2006 prison census: 134 journalists jailed

Fahassi, a reporter for the state-run radio station Alger Chaîne III
and a contributor to several Algerian newspapers, including the
now-banned weekly of the Islamic Salvation Front, Al-Forqane,
was abducted near his home in the al-Harrache suburb of the capital,
Algiers, by four well-dressed men carrying walkie-talkies. According to
eyewitnesses who later spoke with his wife, the men called out
Fahassi's name and then pushed him into a waiting car. He has not been
seen since, and Algerian authorities have denied any knowledge of his
arrest.

Prior to Fahassi's "disappearance," Algerian authorities had targeted
him on at least two occasions because his writing criticized the
government. In late 1991, he was arrested after an article in Al-Forqane
criticized a raid conducted by security forces on an Algiers
neighborhood. On January 1, 1992, the Blida Military Court convicted
him of disseminating false information, attacking a state institution,
and disseminating information that could harm national unity.

He received a one-year suspended sentence and was released after five
months. On February 17, 1992, he was arrested a second time for
allegedly attacking state institutions and spreading false information.
He was transferred to the Ain Salah Detention Center in southern
Algeria, where hundreds of Islamic suspects were detained in the months
following the cancellation of the January 1992 elections.

In late January 2002, Algerian Ambassador to the United States Idriss
Jazairy responded to a CPJ query, saying a government investigation had
not found those responsible for Fahassi's abduction. The ambassador
added that there was no evidence of state involvement.

Aziz BouabdallahAl-Alam al-Siyassi
IMPRISONED: April 12, 1997

Three armed men abducted Bouabdallah, a reporter for the daily Al-Alam al-Siyassi,
from his home in the capital, Algiers. According to Bouabdallah's
family, the men stormed into their home and, after identifying the
journalist, grabbed him, put his hands behind his back, and pushed him
out the door and into a waiting car. An article published in the
privately owned daily El-Watan a few days after his abduction reported that Bouabdallah was in police custody and was expected to be released soon.

In July 1997, CPJ received credible information that Bouabdallah was
being held in Algiers at the Châteauneuf detention facility, where he
had reportedly been tortured. But Bouabdallah's whereabouts were
unknown in 2006, and authorities have denied any knowledge.

In late January 2002, Algerian Ambassador to the United States Idriss
Jazairy responded to a CPJ query, saying a government investigation had
not found those responsible for Bouabdallah's abduction. The ambassador
added that there was no evidence of state involvement.
back to topARMENIA: 1

Arman Babadzhanian,Zhamanak YerevanIMPRISONED: June 26, 2006

The Yerevan prosecutor general summoned Babadzhanian, editor-in-chief of Zhamanak Yerevan,
purportedly for questioning as a witness in a criminal case. Instead,
authorities charged him with forging documents to evade military
service in 2002 and took him into custody, according to international
press reports.

At his trial, Babadzhanian pleaded guilty to draft evasion but said the
charge was in retaliation for the paper's critical reporting. Days
before his arrest, Zhamanak Yerevan
published an article questioning the independence of the prosecutor
general's office, according to the London-based Institute for War and
Peace Reporting.

On September 8, a district court in Yerevan sentenced Babadzhanian to
four years in prison on charges of forgery and draft evasion, according
to the Armenian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The defense
filed an appeal in September.

Police arrested Zakhidov, a prominent reporter and satirist for the Baku-based opposition daily Azadlyg,
and charged him with possession of heroin with the intent to sell.
Zakhidov denied the charge and said a police officer placed the drugs,
about a third of an ounce, in his pocket during his arrest, according
to local and international news reports.

CPJ sources said Zakhidov had previously told colleagues he feared
retaliation. His arrest came three days after Executive Secretary Ali
Akhmedov of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party publicly urged authorities
to silence Zakhidov. At a June 20 panel on media freedom, Akhmedov
said: "No government official or member of parliament has avoided his
slanders. Someone should put an end to it," the news Web site EurasiaNet reported.

Zakhidov was held in a police pretrial detention unit until he was
transferred to the Bailovsk prison in Baku in July. On September 26,
Public Prosecutor Shamil Guliyev announced that the prosecution could
not prove the drug-selling count and revised the charge to drug
possession.

On October 4, a court in Baku convicted Zakhidov and sentenced him to
three years in prison. He was placed in the Bailovsk Prison in Baku.

Samir Sadagatoglu,SenetRafiq Tagi,Senet
IMPRISONED: November 15, 2006

Editor-in-chief Sadagatoglu and reporter Tagi of the independent newspaper Senet
were detained in connection with a November 1 article headlined "Europe
and Us." Tagi, the author, suggested that Islamic values were blocking
development in the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation, according to
international media reports. The article referred to Islam as a cause
of infighting.

Tagi denied that he had slandered Islam. "There are no offensive words addressed to the Prophet," the local news Web site Day quoted him as saying. "On the other hand, we do not live in a religious state."

The Nasimi District Court in the capital, Baku, ordered Sadagatoglu and
Tagi held for two months while authorities investigated the case,
according to international press reports. If convicted of spreading
national, ethnic, or religious hatred under Article 283 of the penal
code, the journalists could face three to five years in prison, the
online Russian news agency Rosbalt reported.

Shafiq, a photographer, was arrested on October 28 in Rajshahi, in
northwestern Bangladesh. He was taken by plainclothes men believed to
be members of the Rapid Action Battalion, an elite anticrime and
antiterrorism force under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home
Affairs.

Journalists from the Dainik Prothom Alo daily newspaper
who were allowed to visit him on October 31 reported that he had been
severely beaten, had burns on his body, and had broken bones in his
hands. Shafiq told reporters that interrogators used an electric prod.
He said police questioned him about the murder of police officers in
Manda Chowbaria, in the western Bangladeshi area of Naoga, and forced
him to sign blank confession papers.

During interrogation, police told Shafiq that other journalists would
also be targeted. Colleagues alleged that he was being held without
evidence on trumped-up charges as a warning to the press from the Rapid
Action Battalion, which media and human rights groups have accused of
extrajudicial killings and torture.

Bail was set on November 1, but Shafiq was immediately rearrested and
accused in the murders. Police told reporters they had proof of
Shafiq's contacts with Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen terrorists through numbers
saved on his mobile phone. Despite the claims of proof, Shafiq was
charged under Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows
the detention of people on the suspicion of criminal activity without
an order from a magistrate or a warrant. The government regularly uses
Section 54 to arrest people without formal charges or specific
complaints.

The day after Shafiq's arrest, colleagues from the Rajshahi Journalists
Union held a public rally to demand his release and specifically
criticized the Rapid Action Battalion for harassing journalists.

U Win Tin, former editor-in-chief of the daily Hanthawati
and chairman of Burma's Writers Club, was arrested and sentenced to
three years hard labor in 1989 on the spurious charge of arranging a
"forced abortion" for an opposition politician. While in prison, his
sentence was extended twice, building to 20 years. U Win Tin suffered
at least two heart attacks in prison and has been shuttled between the
notorious Insein Prison and Rangoon Hospital's prisoner wing.

U Win Tin helped establish various pro-democracy publications during
the 1988 uprisings that the ruling military junta violently crushed. As
a former joint secretary to the main opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) political party, U Win Tin was considered a close
adviser to NLD party leader and Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

In 1992, his initial term drawing to an end, U Win Tin saw his sentence
extended on charges of "writing and publishing pamphlets to incite
treason against the state" and "giving seditious talks" during the 1988
uprisings. In 1996, military authorities extended his term yet again on
charges that he secretly published "antigovernment propaganda" from
prison, including notes drawn up for a United Nations special
rapporteur detailing human rights abuses at Insein.

In 1996, U Win Tin was held for five months in crude solitary
confinement in kennels designed for the prison's guard dogs. Such
deprivations contributed to the 76-year-old journalist's declining
health, including a degenerative spine condition, heart disease,
inflamed knee joints, dental problems, and a prostate gland disorder,
according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in
Burma (AAPPB), a prisoner assistance group based in Thailand.

A senior Burmese military official offered to release U Win Tin in 2003
in exchange for the journalist signing a document promising to cease
political activities, according to a report in Le Monde. U Win Tin refused.

Two years later, U Win Tin was subjected to a cruel manipulation,
according to news reports. The Associated Press reported that the
journalist was told he would be among the political prisoners released
on July 6, 2005. In all, nearly 250 such prisoners were freed at the
time. But after gathering his belongings and attending a briefing on
the conditions of release, U Win Tin was instead directed to a nearby
office, according to a freed prisoner quoted in a Radio Free Asia
dispatch. For unknown reasons, U Win Tin was not freed.

Amnesty International reported that U Win Tin should have been eligible for early release in July.

Maung Maung Lay Ngwe,Pe-Tin-ThanIMPRISONED: September 1990

Maung Maung Lay Ngwe was arrested and charged in 1990 with writing and
distributing undisclosed publications that the authorities deemed to
"make people lose respect for the government." The publications were
titled collectively Pe-Tin-Than,
which from the Burmese translates loosely to "Echoes." CPJ has been
unable to confirm his current whereabouts, legal status, or records of
his original sentencing 16 years ago.

Aung Htun, freelance
IMPRISONED: February 17, 1998

Aung Htun, a writer and activist, was imprisoned in February 1998 for
writing and publishing a seven-volume book that documented the history
of the student movement that led the pro-democracy uprisings of 1988.
He was sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison, according to
information compiled by the Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners in Burma (AAPPB), a prisoner assistance group based in
Thailand.

He was sentenced separately to three years for violating the 1962
Printers and Publishers Registration Act, the military government's
main legal instrument of official censorship; seven years under the
1950 Emergency Provisions Act, which is used broadly to suppress any
dissent against the regime; and another seven years under the 1908
Unlawful Associations Act, a draconian holdover law from Burma's
colonial era under British rule, according to the AAPPB.

The writer's health deteriorated during his detention. In 2002, Amnesty
International issued an urgent appeal requesting that Aung Htun be
granted access to medical treatment for complications related to
growths on his feet, which had apparently inhibited his ability to
walk, as well as a severe asthma condition. It is believed that his
health has deteriorated further in subsequent years, according to the
Burma Media Association, an exiled press freedom advocacy group.

Thaung Tun (Nyein Thit), freelance
IMPRISONED: October 4, 1999

Thaung Tun, an editor, filmmaker, and poet better known as Nyein Thit,
was arrested on October 4, 1999, and subsequently sentenced on December
3, 1999, to eight years in prison for collecting and disseminating
human rights-related information outside of the country, according to
the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma (AAPPB), a
prisoner assistance group based in Thailand.

The films depicted topics that exposed chronic mismanagement and human
rights abuses under military rule, including footage of forced labor
and images of grinding poverty in rural areas. His videotapes were
circulated through underground networks inside and outside the country,
and copies were eventually captured by military intelligence officials,
according to the Burma Media Association, an exiled press freedom
advocacy group.

The 47-year-old Thaung Tun was a longtime journalist with the Padaut Pwint Thit
magazine, which the government shuttered in 1995. He was also a member
of the opposition National League for Democracy party and spent three
years in prison for his political activities in the late 1970s. He is
currently detained at Moulmein prison in southern Burma, 625 miles
(1,000 kilometers) away from his family in Mandalay, according to the
AAPPB.

CPJ honored Thaung Tun and his videographer colleague Aung Pwint, who
was also imprisoned for his role in making the unauthorized
documentaries, with 2004 International Press Freedom Awards. Aung Pwint
was released in 2005.
Ne Min (Win Shwe), freelance
IMPRISONED: May 7, 2004

Ne Min, a lawyer and former stringer for the BBC, was sentenced to 15
years in prison on charges that he illegally passed information to
"antigovernment" organizations operating in border areas, according to
the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma (AAPPB), a
prisoner assistance group based in Thailand.

It represented the second time Burma's military government had
imprisoned the well-known journalist, also known as Win Shwe, on
charges related to disseminating information to news sources outside of
Burma. In 1989, a military tribunal sentenced Ne Min to 14 years hard
labor for "spreading false news and rumors to the BBC to fan further
disturbances in the country" and the "possession of documents including
antigovernment literature, which he planned to send to the BBC,"
according to official radio reports.

He served nine years at Rangoon's Insein Prison before being released
in 1998. Exiled Burmese journalists who spoke with CPJ said that Ne Min
sent news and information to political groups and exile-run news
publications after his release from prison.
Thaung Sein (Thar Cho), freelanceKyaw Thwin (Moe Tun),Dhamah YateIMPRISONED: March 27, 2006

Thaung Sein, a freelance photojournalist, and Kyaw Thwin, a columnist at the Burmese-language magazine Dhamah Yate,
were arrested on March 27, 2006, and sentenced the following day to
three years in prison for photographing and videotaping while riding on
a public bus near the new capital city, Pyinmana.

The two journalists were charged under the 1996 Television and Video
Act, which bars the distribution of film material without official
approval. Under the law, every videotape in Burma must receive a
certificate, which may be revoked at any time, from the government's
censorship board.

Burmese security officials were under strict orders to stop and detain
anyone found taking photographs near the mysterious new capital. Thaung
Sein, also known as Thar Cho, and Kyaw Thwin, more widely known by his
Moe Tun pen name, were placed at Yemethin Prison in central Burma,
according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in
Burma (AAPPB), a prisoner assistance group based in Thailand.

Both journalists appealed the decision on the argument that they had
not taken film or video footage of restricted areas. On June 21, an
appeals court based in the central Burma town of Yemethin upheld the
lower court's verdict without allowing defense witnesses to testify,
according to information from their lawyer that was received by the
Burma Media Association, an exile-run press freedom advocacy group.

Burma's secretive military government abruptly moved the national
capital in November 2005 to a newly built administrative center located
250 miles (400 kilometers) north of Rangoon. Regional news reports,
citing official government documents, said the junta's decision to move
the capital was motivated by fears of supposed military strikes.

Editor Nibizi and reporter Kiramvu of the independent radio station
Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) were arrested in connection with a story
about an alleged coup plot, according to their lawyer and other local
sources. The two were summoned for questioning, served with arrest
warrants, and imprisoned on charges that included threatening state
security, lawyer François Nyamoya said.

Nibizi and Kiramvu were accused of violating judicial secrecy by commenting on a story in the pro-government newspaper Intumwa claiming evidence of a coup plot, according to Nyamoya. No action was taken against Intumwa. Several leading opposition figures have been jailed since August in connection with the alleged coup plot.

Reports on RPA and two other independent radio stations, Radio
Isanganiro and Radio Bonesha, cast doubt on whether a plot truly
existed.

Station Director Alexis Sinduhije, a 2004 International Press Freedom
Awardee, said he believed authorities were trying to close RPA because
of its reporting on human rights abuses. Sinduhije went into hiding in
September amid what he called a campaign of intimidation against RPA.

Matthias Manirakiza, Radio Isanganiro
IMPRISONED: November 29, 2006

Manirakiza, director of Radio Isanganiro, was held in the central
prison in the capital, Bujumbura, in connection with a story broadcast
in August. The report cited police sources as saying authorities
planned to stage fake attacks on the homes of top officials to bolster
their claims of a coup plot.

Several top opposition leaders, including the former president, were on
trial in late year for alleged participation in the plot. Reports on
Radio Isanganiro and other independent radio stations cast doubt on
whether a plot truly existed.

Agence France-Presse quoted Manirakiza's lawyer, Raphael Gahungu as
saying that his client was jailed for allegedly "authorizing the
broadcast of information threatening to state and public security." It
was not immediately clear whether any formal charges were filed.

Radio Isanganiro is backed by the U.S.-based nongovernmental organization Search for Common Ground.

Hem Choun,Samrek Yutethor
IMPRISONED: June 7, 2006Hem Chuon, a reporter with the Khmer-language newspaper Samrek Yutethor,
was arrested by military police while reporting on the forced eviction
of land squatters by military police from Sambok Chap village on the
outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh.

He was arrested along with three other villagers for their alleged role
in leading a violent protest on May 31 against a private security
company that had been hired to secure the land. That day, protestors
dismantled metal fences erected around the village and burned down the
village chief's empty house.

Chuon's lawyer said that he covered the riot as a reporter and did not
participate in the melee. The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR),
a rights advocacy group that has provided legal counsel to the jailed
journalist, told CPJ that police arrested Chuon without a proper
warrant and that they had refused to recognize him as a practicing
journalist.

On June 8, Phnom Penh Municipal Court Investigation Judge Ke Sokhan
charged Chuon under Article 52 of the United Nations Transitional
Authority in Cambodia criminal law, which relates to wrongful damage of
property. On June 9, Sokhan denied Chuon's bail petition submitted
through his lawyer. Cambodian law allows the government to hold a
person for six months without bail.

Chuon was being held in crowded conditions at Phnom Penh's notorious
Prey Sar Prison. According to CCHR, Chuon has developed respiratory
complications during his detention, and prison authorities on at least
one occasion denied him outside medical treatment. The court did not
immediately set a trial date.

Twenty-three years after their imprisonment in the early days of
China's economic reform, Chen and Lin are the longest-serving
journalists in CPJ's worldwide census. The two men, along with Chen
Biling, wrote and published a pamphlet titled Ziyou Bao
(Freedom Report). They distributed only 300 copies of the pamphlet in
the southern Chinese city of Fuzhou, Fujian province, in September
1982. The following July, they were arrested and accused of making
contact with Taiwanese spy groups and publishing a counterrevolutionary
pamphlet. According to official government records of the case, the men
used "propaganda and incitement to encourage the overthrow of the
people's democratic dictatorship and the socialist system."

In August 1983, Chen Renjie was sentenced to life in prison, and Lin
Youping was sentenced to death with reprieve. Chen Biling was sentenced
to death and later executed.

Fan Yingshang,Remen Huati
CHARGED: October 16, 1995

In 1994 Fan and Yang Jianguo printed more than 60,000 copies of the magazine Remen Huati (Popular Topics). The men had allegedly purchased fake printing authorizations from an editor of the Journal of European Research
at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, according to official
Chinese news sources. Printing authorizations are a prior restraint
used to curtail independent publishing in China.

CPJ was unable to determine the date of Fan's arrest, but on October
16, 1995, he was indicted on charges of profiteering. On January 31,
1996, the Chang'an District Court in Shijiazhuang City sentenced him to
13 years in prison, with three years' subsequent deprivation of
political rights, for publishing and distributing illegal "reactionary"
publications. Yang escaped arrest and was not sentenced.

Fan's appeal was rejected on April 11, 1996, according to the Chinese
government's response to a query by the San Francisco-based prisoners'
advocacy group Dui Hua.

Hua Di, freelance
IMPRISONED: January 5, 1998

The imprisonment of Hua, a Stanford University scientist and permanent
resident of the United States, raised objections from former U.S.
President Bill Clinton, his colleagues at Stanford University, and
others. But eight years later, he remained in jail.

Hua was arrested while visiting China and charged with revealing state
secrets, a charge used frequently against journalists who write about
controversial matters. Charges are believed to stem from articles that
Hua had written in academic journals about China's missile defense
system.

On November 25, 1999, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court
held a closed trial and sentenced Hua to 15 years in prison, according
to the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and
Democracy. In March 2000, the Beijing High People's Court overturned
Hua's conviction and ordered that the case be retried. This judicial
reversal was extraordinary, and it appeared to be a response to
international pressure. But the decision did not mean that he was freed.

Instead, after a retrial, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court
issued a modified verdict, sentencing Hua to 10 years in prison in
November 2000. News of Hua's sentencing did not break until three
months later, when a relative gave the information to foreign
correspondents based in Beijing.

Requests for medical parole have been rejected. Hua suffers from a rare form of male breast cancer.

Gao Qinrong, Xinhua News Agency
IMPRISONED: December 4, 1998

Gao, an investigative reporter for China's state news agency, Xinhua,
was jailed for reporting on a corrupt irrigation scheme in
drought-plagued Yuncheng, Shanxi province. Xinhua never carried Gao's
article, which was finally published on May 27, 1998, in an internal
reference edition of the official People's Daily
that is distributed only among a select group of party leaders. But by
fall 1998, the irrigation scandal had become national news, with
reports appearing in the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Zhoumo
(Southern Weekend) and on China Central Television. Gao's wife, Duan
Maoying, said that local officials blamed Gao for the flurry of media
interest and arranged for his prosecution on false charges.

Gao was arrested on December 4, 1998, and eventually charged with
crimes including bribery, embezzlement, and pimping, according to Duan.
On April 28, 1999, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison after a
closed one-day trial.

In September 2001, Gao wrote to Mary Robinson, then the United Nations
high commissioner for human rights, and asked her to intercede with the
Chinese government on his behalf. Gao has received support from several
members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference of
the National People's Congress, who issued a motion at its annual
parliamentary meeting in March 2001 urging the Central Discipline
Committee and Supreme People's Court to reopen his case.

In 2002, Gao received a sentence reduction of 21 months, and in 2004
received a further reduction of two years, San Francisco-based Dui Hua
Foundation reported. Though Gao's imprisonment was frequently listed as
a case of concern by foreign governments in dialogue with China, the
reductions were not publicly disclosed until 2006. Based on the
government's sentence reductions, Gao would be released in March 2007.

Yue Tianxiang,Zhongguo Gongren Guancha
IMPRISONED: January 1999

Along with his colleagues Wang Fengshan and Guo Xinmin, Yue started a
journal campaigning for workers' rights after they were unable to get
compensation from the Tianshui City Transport Agency following their
dismissal from the company in 1995. The first issue of Zhongguo Gongren Guangcha
(China Labor Watch) exposed extensive corruption among officials at the
company, according to international media reports. Only two issues were
ever published.

On July 5, 1999, the Tianshui People's Intermediate Court in Gansu
province sentenced Yue to 10 years in prison on charges of "subverting
state authority," according to the Hong Kong-based Information Center
for Human Rights and Democracy. His colleagues Wang and Guo were
sentenced to two years in prison and have since been released. All
three men reportedly belonged to the outlawed China Democracy Party, a
dissident group, and were forming an organization to protect the rights
of laid-off workers.

In 2006, the U.S.-based prisoner advocacy group Dui Hua Foundation
reported that Yue's sentence was reduced to nine years in March 2005.
He turned 50 in Lanzhou Prison in December 2006.

Wu and Mao, both organizers for the banned China Democracy Party (CDP),
were detained in the run-up to the 10-year anniversary of the military
crackdown on demonstrators at Tiananmen Square. A few months later,
authorities detained two more leading CDP activists, Zhu Yufu and Xu
Guang. The four were later convicted of subversion for, among other
things, establishing a magazine called Zaiye Dang (Opposition Party) and circulating pro-democracy writings online.

On October 25, 1999, the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court in Zhejiang province conducted what The New York Times
described as a "sham trial." On November 9, 1999, Wu was sentenced to
11 years in prison, and Mao was sentenced to eight years. Their
political rights were suspended for three years each upon release. Xu
was sentenced to five years in prison and was later released. Zhu was
sentenced to seven years and was released in September 2006. After his
release, Zhu told journalists that he had been abused and deprived of
sleep while in prison.

"The guards would tell three or four criminals to beat me, saying it
was a private matter between prisoners," Zhu told The Associated Press.
Xu Zerong, freelance
IMPRISONED: June 24, 2000

Xu is serving a 13-year prison term on charges of "leaking state
secrets" through his academic work on military history and of "economic
crimes" related to unauthorized publishing on foreign policy issues.
Some observers believe that his jailing may have been related to an
article he wrote for the Hong Kong-based Yazhou Zhoukan (Asia Weekly) magazine revealing clandestine Chinese Communist Party support for a Malaysian insurgency in the 1950s and 1960s.

Xu, a permanent resident of Hong Kong, was arrested in Guangzhou and
held incommunicado for 18 months until his trial. He was tried by
Shenzhen Intermediate Court in December 2001, and his appeal to
Guangzhou Higher People's Court was rejected in 2002.

According to court documents, the "state secrets" charges against Xu
stemmed from his use of historical documents for academic research. Xu,
also known as David Tsui, was an associate research professor at the
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies at Zhongshan University in
Guangzhou. In 1992, he photocopied four books published in the 1950s
about China's role in the Korean War, which he then sent to a colleague
in South Korea. The verdict stated that the Security Committee of the
People's Liberation Army of Guangzhou later determined that the books
had not been declassified 40 years after being labeled "top secret."
After his arrest, St. Antony's College at Oxford University, where Xu
earned his doctorate and wrote his dissertation on the Korean War, was
active in researching his case and calling for his release.

He was also the co-founder of a Hong Kong-based academic journal Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Jikan
(China Social Sciences Quarterly). The "economic crimes" charges were
related to the "illegal publication" of more than 60,000 copies of 25
books and periodicals, including several books about Chinese politics
and Beijing's relations with Taiwan.

Xu was arrested just days after an article appeared in the June 26, 2000, issue of Yazhou Zhoukan
in which he accused the Chinese Communist Party of hypocrisy by
condemning other countries for interfering in its internal affairs by
criticizing its human rights record.

Xu began his sentence in Dongguan Prison, outside of Guangzhou, but was
later transferred to Guangzhou Prison, where it was easier for his
family to visit him. He has been spared from hard labor and has been
allowed to read, research, and teach English in prison, according to
the U.S.-based prisoner advocacy group Dui Hua Foundation. He has
suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes.

In 2006, Xu's family members were informed that he had received a
nine-month reduction in his sentence, according to Dui Hua. Based on
that, he would be scheduled for release in 2012.

The four members of an informal discussion group called Xin Qingnian
Xuehui (New Youth Study Group) were detained and accused of "subverting
state authority." Prosecutors cited online articles and essays on
political and social reform as proof of their intent to overthrow the
Chinese Communist Party leadership.

Yang, Xu, Jin, and Zhang were charged with subversion on April 20,
2001. More than two years later, on May 29, 2003, the Beijing No. 1
Intermediate People's Court sentenced Xu and Jin to10 years in prison
each, while Yang and Zhang each received sentences of eight years. Each
of the sentences was to be followed by two years' deprivation of
political rights.

The four young men were students and recent university graduates who
gathered occasionally to discuss politics and reform with four others,
including an informant for the Ministry of State Security. The most
prominent in the group, Yang, posted his own thoughts and reports by
the others on topics such as rural poverty and village elections, along
with essays advocating democratic reform on a popular Web site, Yangzi de Sixiang Jiayuan (Yangzi's Garden of Ideas).

Xu was a reporter at Xiaofei Ribao (Consumer's Daily).
Public security agents pressured the newspaper to fire him before his
arrest, a friend, Wang Ying, reported online.

The court cited a handful of articles, including Jin's "Be a New
Citizen, Reform China" and Yang's "Choose Liberalism," in the 2003
verdict against them. Beijing Higher People's Court rejected their
appeal without hearing defense witnesses in November 2003. Three of the
witnesses who testified against the four men were fellow members of the
group who later tried to retract their testimonies

Yang, Xu, and Jin were imprisoned at Beijing's No. 2 Prison. Yang's
wife, Lu Kun, who was also initially detained and questioned, was
unable to visit him for four years after his imprisonment, she told
reporters in 2005. Zhang, who initially suffered from ill health in
detention, was jailed at Lishui Prison in Zhejiang province, where he
makes sweaters, his brother told CPJ.

Tao Haidong, freelance
IMPRISONED: July 9, 2002

Tao, an Internet essayist and pro-democracy activist, was arrested in
Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR),
and charged with "incitement to subvert state power." According to the Minzhu Luntan
(Democracy Forum) Web site, which had published Tao's recent writing,
his articles focused on political and legal reform. In one essay,
titled "Strategies for China's Social Reforms," Tao wrote that "the
Chinese Communist Party and democracy activists throughout society
should unite to push forward China's freedom and democratic development
or else stand condemned through the ages."

Previously, in 1999, Tao was sentenced to three years of "re-education
through labor" in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, according to the New
York-based advocacy group Human Rights in China, because of his essays
and work on a book titled Xin Renlei Shexiang
(Imaginings of a New Human Race). After his early release in 2001, Tao
began writing essays and articles and publishing them on various
domestic and overseas Web sites.

In early January 2003, the Urumqi Intermediate Court sentenced Tao to
seven years in prison. His appeal to the XUAR Higher Court later in
2003 was rejected.

Zhang Wei,Shishi Zixun and Redian Jiyao
IMPRISONED: July 19, 2002

Zhang was arrested and charged with illegal publishing after producing
and selling two underground newspapers in Chongqing, in central China.
According to an account published on the Web site of the Chongqing
Press and Publishing Administration, a provincial government body that
governs all local publications, beginning in April 2001, Zhang edited
two newspapers, Shishi Zixun (Current Events) and Redian Jiyao (Summary of the Main Points), which included articles and graphics he had downloaded from the Internet.

Two of Zhang's business associates, Zuo Shangwen and Ou Yan, were also
arrested on July 19, 2002, and indicted for their involvement with the
publications. Zuo printed the publications in neighboring Sichuan
province, while Ou managed the publications' finances. At the time of
their arrests, police confiscated 9,700 copies of Shishi Zixun.

The official account of their arrests stated that the two publications
had "flooded" Chongqing's publishing market. The government declared
that "the political rumors, shocking 'military reports,' and other
articles in these illegal publications misled the public, poisoned the
youth, negatively influenced society, and sparked public indignation."
Zhang, Zuo, and Ou printed more than 1.5 million copies of the
publications and sold them in Chongqing, Chengdu, and other cities.

On December 25, 2002, the Yuzhong District Court in Chongqing sentenced
Zhang to six years in prison and fined him 100,000 yuan (US$12,000),
the amount that police said he had earned in profits from the
publications. Zuo was sentenced to five years and fined 50,000 yuan
(US$6,000), while Ou was sentenced to two years in prison.

Memetemin, a writer, teacher, and translator who had actively advocated
for the Uighur ethnic group in the northwestern Xinjiang Uighur
Autonomous Region, was detained in Kashgar, a city in Xinjiang, on
charges of "leaking state secrets."

In June 2003, Kashgar Intermediate People's Court sentenced him to nine
years in prison, plus a three-year suspension of political rights.
Radio Free Asia provided CPJ with court documents listing 18 specific
counts against Memetemin, including translating state news articles
into Chinese from Uighur; forwarding official speeches to the
Germany-based East Turkistan Information Center (ETIC), a news outlet
that advocates for an independent state for the Uighur ethnic group;
and conducting original reporting for the center. The court also
accused him of recruiting additional reporters for ETIC, which is
banned in China.

Memetemin did not have legal representation at his trial.

Huang Jinqiu,Boxun News
IMPRISONED: September 13, 2003Huang, a columnist for the U.S.-based citizen journalist Web site Boxun News,
was arrested in Jiangsu province. Huang's family was not officially
notified of his arrest for more than three months. On September 27,
2004, Changzhou Intermediate People's Court sentenced him to 12 years
in prison on charges of "subversion of state authority," plus four
years' deprivation of political rights. The sentence was unusually
harsh and appeared linked to his intention to form an opposition party.

Huang worked as a writer and editor in his native Shandong province, as
well as in Guangdong province, before leaving China in 2000 to study
journalism at the Central Academy of Art in Malaysia. While he was
overseas, Huang began writing political commentary for Boxun News
under the pen name "Qing Shuijun." He also wrote articles on arts and
entertainment under the name "Huang Jin." Huang's writings reportedly
caught the attention of the government in 2001. Huang told a friend
that authorities had contacted his family to warn them about his
writing, according to Boxun News.

In January 2003, Huang wrote in his online column that he intended to
form a new opposition party, the China Patriot Democracy Party. When he
returned to China in August 2003, he eluded public security agents just
long enough to visit his family in Shandong province. In the last
article he posted on Boxun News, titled "Me and My Public Security Friends," Huang described being followed and harassed by security agents.

Huang's appeal was rejected in December 2004.

Huang's lawyer told CPJ in early 2005 that the journalist had been
mistreated in prison and was in poor health. By late 2006, his family
told Boxun News that his health conditions appeared improved.

Kong Youping, freelance
IMPRISONED: December 13, 2003

Kong, an essayist and poet, was arrested in Anshan, Liaoning province.
A former trade union official, he had written articles online that
supported democratic reforms, appealed for the release of
then-imprisoned Internet writer Liu Di, and called for a reversal of
the government's "counterrevolutionary" ruling on the pro-democracy
demonstrations of 1989.

Kong's essays included an appeal to democracy activists in China that
stated, "In order to work well for democracy, we need a well-organized,
strong, powerful, and effective organization. Otherwise, a mainland
democracy movement will accomplish nothing." Several of his articles
and poems were posted on the Minzhu Luntan (Democracy Forum) Web site.

In 1998, Kong served time in prison after he became a member of the
Liaoning province branch of the China Democracy Party (CDP), an
opposition party. In 2004, he was tried on subversion charges along
with co-defendant Ning Xianhua, who was accused of being the vice
chairman of the CDP branch in Liaoning, according to the U.S.-based
advocacy organization Human Rights in China and court documents
obtained by the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation. On September
16, 2004, the Shenyang Intermediate People's Court sentenced Kong to 15
years in prison, plus four years' deprivation of political rights. Ning
received a 12-year sentence. Kong's family has never seen the verdict
in the case, according to CPJ sources in China.

Kong suffered from hypertension and was imprisoned in the city of
Lingyuan far from his family, making visits difficult. In a letter
written to his family from prison, Kong said that he had received a
sentence reduction to 10 years in his appeal, but that information
could not be confirmed.
Yu Huafeng,Nanfang Dushi BaoLi Minying,Nanfang Dushi Bao
IMPRISONED: January 2004

Yu, deputy editor-in-chief and general manager of Nanfang Dushi Bao
(Southern Metropolis News), and Li, the newspaper's former editor, were
detained less than a month after the newspaper reported a suspected
SARS case in Guangzhou, the first case since the epidemic died out in
July 2003. Their imprisonment was followed in March 2004 by the jailing
of Nanfang Dushi Bao former editor-in-chief Cheng Yizhong, who was held for five months.

The arrests appeared to be a part of a crackdown on the newspaper,
which became popular for its aggressive investigative reporting on
social issues and wrongdoing by local officials. The paper broke news
that a young graphic designer, Sun Zhigang, was beaten to death in
March 2003 while being held in police custody in Guangzhou. Public
outcry over Sun's death led to the arrest of several local government
and police officials, along with a change in national laws on detention.

On March 19, 2004, Dongshan District Court in Guangzhou, Guangdong
province, sentenced Yu to 12 years in prison on corruption charges. Li,
who also served on the Communist Party Committee of the newspaper's
parent group Nanfang Daily Group, was sentenced to 11 years on bribery
charges. In an appellate trial held in June 2004, Li's sentence was
reduced to six years in prison, while Yu's sentence was reduced to
eight years.

According to the official Xinhua News Agency, Yu was convicted of
embezzling 580,000 yuan (US$70,000) and distributing the money to
members of the paper's editorial committee. The court also accused Yu
of paying Li a total of 800,000 yuan (US$97,000) in bribes while Li was
editor of Nanfang Dushi Bao. Li was accused of accepting bribes totaling 970,000 (US$117,000).

Both men maintained that the money was acquired legally and was
distributed in routine bonus payments to the staff. Chinese journalists
familiar with the case have told CPJ that evidence presented in court
did not support the corruption charges.

In 2005, Cheng was named the recipient of the 2005 UNESCO/Guillermo
Cano World Press Freedom Prize. He was not permitted to attend, but in
his acceptance statement he asked to share the honor with Li and Yu:
"Your suffering is the shame of China," he said. Later that year, more
than 2,000 journalists in China signed an open letter to the Guangdong
High People's Court appealing for the release of Yu and Li. Observers
could remember no precedent in this show of support.

Yu's wife told CPJ that she travels monthly to Beijing to petition for the release of her husband.

Zhao Yan,The New York Times
IMPRISONED: September 17, 2004

Zhao, a news researcher at Beijing bureau of The New York Times and a former investigative reporter for the Beijing-based China Reform magazine, was detained in Shanghai less than two weeks after The Times ran an article correctly predicting the retirement of President Jiang Zemin from his final leadership post.

Zhao was held under suspicion of "providing state secrets to
foreigners," a charge that denied him access to a lawyer for nine
months after his initial detention, prolonged his pretrial detention,
and cloaked his case in official secrecy. Leaked state security
documents confirmed that Zhao was detained in connection with the
September 7 article on Jiang's retirement, but indicated that the
sparse evidence against him comprised only a brief handwritten note
taken through unknown means from the Beijing office of The Times.
A fraud charge was added in April 2005. After a series of delays, Zhao
was tried in June 2006 in closed proceedings in which he was not
permitted to call defense witnesses.

On August 25, 2006, Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court convicted
Zhao of fraud charges, but in a very rare move for criminal cases
brought to trial in China, acquitted him of the more serious state
secrets charges due to "insufficient evidence." Zhao was sentenced to
three years in prison.

The fraud charge stemmed from an accusation that Zhao took 20,000 yuan
(US$2,500) from a local official with the promise of helping him get
released from a work camp in 2001. Zhao was known as an aggressive
investigative reporter and activist before joining The Times. Sources familiar with the situation told CPJ that the allegation against him was unsubstantiated.

Zhao's detention fueled an international outcry, and it was raised with
high-ranking U.S. officials in talks with Chinese counterparts. The
state secrets' charge against Zhao was briefly dropped ahead of Chinese
President Hu Jintao's April 2006 visit to the White House, prompting
premature speculation that he would soon be released from prison. But
all charges were reinstated after Hu's visit.

After his sentencing, Zhao's lawyers petitioned for a fully open appeal
hearing with a right to call defense witnesses, something denied him in
the first trial. But authorities denied this request and rejected his
appeal after reviewing it behind closed doors in November.
Shi Tao, freelance
IMPRISONED: November 24, 2004

Shi, the former editorial director at the Changsha-based newspaper Dangdai Shang Bao, was detained near his home in Taiyuan, Shanxi province.

He was formally arrested and charged with "providing state secrets to
foreigners" by sending an e-mail on his Yahoo account to the U.S.-based
editor of the Web site Minzhu Luntan
(Democracy Forum). In the anonymous email sent several months before
his arrest, Shi transcribed his notes from local propaganda department
instructions to his newspaper, which included directives on coverage of
the Falun Gong and the upcoming 15th anniversary of the military
crackdown on demonstrators at Tiananmen Square. The official Xinhua
News Agency reported that the National Administration for the
Protection of State Secrets later certified the contents of the e-mail
as classified.

On April 27, 2005, the Changsha Intermediate People's Court found Shi
guilty and sentenced him to a 10-year prison term. In June, Hunan
Province High People's Court rejected his appeal without granting a
hearing.

Court documents in the case revealed that Yahoo had supplied
information to Chinese authorities that helped them identify Shi as the
sender of the e-mail. Yahoo's participation in the identification of
Shi Tao and other jailed Internet writers and dissidents in China
raised questions about the role that international Internet companies
are playing in the repression of online speech in China and elsewhere.

In November 2005, CPJ honored Shi in absentia with its annual
International Press Freedom Award for his courage in defending the
ideals of free expression. Shi's mother, Gao Qinsheng, was invited to
attend the ceremony in New York but declined the invitation after
police told her that her son's conditions in high-security Chisan
Prison would improve if she stayed home. Instead, Shi's conditions
stayed the same through 2006. He was forced to work cutting and
polishing gems, lost weight, and was not allowed to read newspapers or
write.

Zheng Yichun, freelance
IMPRISONED: December 3, 2004

Zheng, a former professor, was a regular contributor to overseas online news sites including the U.S.-based Web site Dajiyuan
(Epoch Times), which is affiliated with the banned religious movement
Falun Gong. Zheng wrote a series of editorials that directly criticized
the Communist Party and its control of the media.

Because of police warnings, Zheng's family remained silent about his
detention in Yingkou, Liaoning province, until state media reported
that he had been arrested on suspicion of inciting subversion. Zheng
was initially tried by Yingkou Intermediate People's Court on April 26,
2005. No verdict was announced, and on July 21 he was tried again on
the same charges. As in the April 26 trial, proceedings lasted just
three hours. Though officially "open" to the public, the courtroom was
closed to all observers except close family members and government
officials. Zheng's supporters and a journalist were prevented from
entering, according to a local source.

Prosecutors cited dozens of articles written by the journalist, and
listed the titles of several essays in which he called for political
reform, increased capitalism in China, and an end to the practice of
imprisoning writers.

On September 20, the court sentenced Zheng to seven years in prison, to
be followed by three years' deprivation of political rights.

Sources familiar with the case believe that Zheng's harsh sentence may be linked to Chinese leaders' objections to the Dajiyuan
series "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party," which called the
Chinese Communist Party an "evil cult" with a "history of killings" and
predicted its demise.

Zheng is diabetic, and his health suffered a decline after his
imprisonment. After his first appeal was rejected, he intended to
pursue an appeal in a higher court, but his defense lawyer, Gao
Zhisheng, was himself imprisoned in August 2006. Zheng's family has
been unable to find another lawyer willing to take the case.

Zhang Lin, freelanceIMPRISONED: January 29, 2005

Zhang, a freelance writer and political essayist who made a living by
writing for banned overseas Web sites, was convicted of "inciting
subversion of state power" and misrepresenting national authorities in
his articles and in a radio interview.

Zhang, who spent years in jail in the 1990s for his pro-democracy
activism and for organizing a labor union, was detained at a train
station near his home in Bengbu, in central China's Anhui province.
Police apprehended him as he was returning from Beijing, where he had
traveled to mourn the death of ousted Communist Party leader Zhao
Ziyang. He was initially accused of "disturbing public order" but
police formally arrested him on charges of inciting subversion after
confiscating the computer he was using.

Bengbu Intermediate People's Court tried him on June 21, 2005, in
proceedings that lasted five hours, his lawyer, Mo Shaoping, told CPJ.
The defense argued that the six articles and one interview cited by the
prosecution were protected free expression. Zhang's wife told reporters
that his imprisonment was also connected to essays he wrote about
protests by unemployed workers and official scandals. On July 28, 2005,
the court convicted Zhang and sentenced him to five years in prison.

For 28 days in September 2005, Zhang waged a hunger strike to protest
his unjust sentence and the harsh conditions at Bengbu No. 1 Detention
Center. Officials there subjected him to long hours of forced labor
making Christmas ornaments and refused to allow him to read newspapers
or other material, according to his lawyer. During his hunger strike,
he was fed through his nose, and was hospitalized briefly before
returning to the detention center.

Zhang's appeals were rejected without a hearing, and he was moved to a
prison in Anhui province. Zhang's wife told CPJ that his health has
suffered during his imprisonment. They have a young daughter.

Li Changqing,Fuzhou RibaoIMPRISONED: February 2005Li, deputy news director of Fuzhou Ribao
(Fuzhou Daily), was arrested in southern China's Fujian province in
connection with an investigation of whistleblower Huang Jingao, a
Communist Party official in Fujian province who wrote an open letter to
the state-run People's Daily in 2004 denouncing corruption among local officials.

Huang won public support after describing death threats that he said
forced him to wear a bulletproof vest. But in November 2005 he was
convicted of accepting bribes and sentenced to life in prison.
Supporters said that the charges against Huang were politically
motivated.

Li was initially accused of inciting subversion. He told his lawyer
that he was tortured in detention, and interrogated repeatedly about
his defense of Huang in newspaper and online articles.

The unexplained subversion charge was later dropped and authorities
filed a charge of "deliberately fabricating and spreading alarmist
information." The new charge was related to an October 13, 2004, report
in the U.S.-based Chinese-language Web site Boxun News reporting an outbreak of dengue fever, a viral mosquito-borne disease, in Fuzhou.

The author, identified by his lawyer as Li, anonymously reported more than 20 cases, according to Boxun News. In seeking to confirm the information, the Web site did its own research and updated the story to reflect 100 cases.

Li was tried in Fuzhou on January 19, 2006. On January 24, Gulou
district court convicted Li and sentenced him to three years in prison.
His appeal was rejected.

Ching Cheong,The Straits TimesIMPRISONED: April 22, 2005

Ching, a veteran Hong Kong reporter who was the China correspondent for the Singapore daily The Straits Times,
was detained in Guangzhou while attempting to meet with a source to
obtain interviews of the late ousted leader Zhao Ziyang. He was held
under house arrest in Beijing without access to a lawyer or his family
until a formal arrest order was issued in August 2005 on espionage
charges.

Official Xinhua News Agency reports in 2005 accused Ching of collecting
millions of Hong Kong dollars to spy for Taiwan. Specific charges
against him were not made clear until after his trial in a closed
hearing in Beijing on August 15, 2006. On August 31, the Beijing No. 2
Intermediate People's Court convicted Ching of espionage and sentenced
him to five years in prison, plus an additional year's deprivation of
political rights.

The verdict in the case later appeared online and was published by
several Hong Kong newspapers. The document accused Ching of accepting
around 300,000 Hong Kong dollars (not millions as first reported by
Xinhua) in fees to submit classified reports on political affairs,
economics, and international relations for a Taiwan-based organization
called the Foundation of International and Cross-Strait Studies, which
authorities said was a cover for a Taiwan intelligence organization.
Prosecutors said that Ching had met two representatives from the
organization at a current events conference, and had done research for
them, including sending them reporting by himself and others for The Straits Times.

In his defense, Ching argued that he had no knowledge that the
organization was a front for Taiwan intelligence--a charge the
foundation itself has strongly denied--and that he had provided no
state secrets. Ching's appeal was rejected in November.

Li Jianping, freelanceIMPRISONED: May 27, 2005

Li, a writer and businessman, was detained by police in Zibo, in
northeast China's Shandong province. Initially held on suspicion of
defamation for articles critical of former president Jiang Zemin and
current President Hu Jintao, he was tried on more serious charges of
"inciting subversion of state authority" on April 12, 2005. Before
going forward with the case, state prosecutors sent it back to police
twice on the grounds of insufficient evidence, according to the
U.S.-based advocacy group Human Rights in China.

In his trial, prosecutors cited 31 articles from banned U.S.-based Chinese-language Web sites Yi Bao (ChinaEWeekly), Dajiyuan (Epoch Times), and Minzhu Luntan
(Democracy Forum). The verdict cited 18 of those articles, but his wife
told CPJ it was not clear that her husband even wrote all of the
stories.

On October 25, more than six months after Li's trial, Zibo Intermediate
People's Court found him guilty and sentenced him to two years in
prison, plus an additional two years' deprivation of political rights.
He planned to appeal his verdict, his wife said.

Li Yuanlong,Bijie RibaoIMPRISONED: September 2005

Li, a reporter for Bijie Ribao daily newspaper in
Guizhou province, was detained in September 2005. He was tried on May
11, 2006, in a five-hour hearing on charges of "inciting subversion of
state authority" for online articles criticizing the Chinese Communist
Party. In July, Bijie Intermediate People's Court sentenced him to two
years in prison.

Li's articles about poverty and unemployment in his home province
angered local officials, according to the U.S.-based advocacy group
Human Rights in China.

He told his lawyer that he began writing essays and posting them online
after becoming increasingly frustrated with the "lies and clichés" he
was writing for his state-controlled newspaper, and felt that it was
his responsibility as a reporter to expose injustice and inequality.
Under the name Ye Lang (Night Wolf), Li wrote articles that were very
critical of Chinese Communist Party and local government actions, which
were posted on banned U.S.-based Web sites Boxun News, Dajiyuan (Epoch Times), Yi Bao (ChinaEWeekly) and New Century Net.

He is expected to be released from prison in September 2007.

Yang Tongyan (Yang Tianshui), freelance
IMPRISONED: December 23, 2005

Yang, commonly known by his pen name, Yang Tianshui, was detained along
with a friend in Nanjing, eastern China. He was tried on charges of
"subverting state authority" and on May 17, 2006, the Zhenjiang
Intermediate People's Court sentenced him to 12 years in prison.

Yang is a well-known writer and a member of the Independent Chinese PEN
Center. He was a frequent contributor to U.S.-based Web sites banned in
China, including Boxun News and Epoch Times.
He often wrote critically about the ruling Communist Party, and he
advocated the release of Internet writers Zheng Yichun and Zhang Lin.

According to the verdict in Yang's case, which was translated into
English by the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation, the harsh
sentence against him was related to a fictitious online election,
established by overseas Chinese citizens, for a "democratic Chinese
transitional government." Yang's colleagues say that without his prior
knowledge, he was elected "secretariat" of the fictional government.

Yang later wrote an article in Epoch Times in support of the model.

Prosecutors also accused Yang of transferring money from overseas to
Wang Wenjiang, who had been convicted of endangering state security.
Yang's defense lawyer argued that this money was humanitarian
assistance to the family of a jailed dissident, and should not have
constituted a criminal act.

Believing that the proceedings were fundamentally unjust, Yang did not
appeal. Yang spent 10 years in prison for his opposition to the
military crackdown on demonstrators at Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Guo Qizhen, freelance
IMPRISONED: May 12, 2006

Guo was detained as he prepared to join a rolling hunger strike by the
lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who was later jailed. He was later formally
arrested on charges related to his prolific writing for U.S.-based
Chinese-language Web sites Minzhu Luntan (Democracy Forum) and Epoch Times.

The Cangzhou Intermediate People's Court tried Guo on charges of
"inciting subversion of state authority" on September 12, 2006. He was
convicted and sentenced to four years in prison, plus an additional two
years' deprivation of political rights.

In its opinion presented to the prosecutor on June 16, the Cangzhou
Public Security Bureau cited several online essays as proof of Guo's
crimes, including one titled "Letting some of the people first get rich
while others cannot make a living," in which he accused the Communist
Party government of using its policies to support an "autocratic" and
"despotic" regime. Guo was critical of corruption and widespread
poverty in the country.

In his defense, Guo argued that his criticism of the Communist Party
was protected by the Chinese constitution. He appealed his sentence.
Guo is married with a 16-year-old son.

Zhang Jianhong, freelance
IMPRISONED: September 6, 2006

The founder and editor of popular news and literary Web site Aiqinhai
(Aegean Sea) was taken from his home in Ningbo, in eastern China's
Zhejiang province. In October, he was formally arrested on charges of
"inciting subversion."

Authorities did not clarify their allegations against Zhang, but
supporters believed they were linked to his online articles that were
critical of government actions. An editorial he wrote two days before
his detention called attention to international organizations'
criticism of the government's human rights record and in particular the
poor treatment of journalists and their sources two years before the
start of the Olympics. Zhang referred to the situation as "Olympicgate."

Zhang was an author, screenwriter, and reporter who served one and a
half years of "re-education through labor" in 1989 on
counter-revolutionary charges for his writing in support of protesters.
He was dismissed from a position on the local Writers Association and
began working as a freelance writer.

His Web site Aiqinhai was closed in March 2006 for
unauthorized posting of international and domestic news. He had also
been a recent contributor to several U.S.-based Chinese-language Web
sites, including Boxun News, the pro-democracy forum Minzhu Luntan, and Dajiyuan (Epoch Times).

Muñoz, Colombian correspondent for the regional television network
Telesur, was detained by agents of the Colombian national intelligence
service, the Administrative Department of Security (DAS), at Eldorado
International Airport in Bogotá as he returned from Telesur
headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela. The arrest warrant charged him with
"rebellion and terrorism," Rodrigo Barrera Barinas, a spokesman for the
attorney general, told CPJ.

The DAS said in a statement that a three-year investigation led
authorities to link Muñoz to a series of explosions in 2000 and 2002
that destroyed electrical towers in the northern cities of Barranquilla
and Cartagena. The explosions have been linked to the left-wing
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The DAS statement said the arrest relied on witness testimony and
intelligence reports. Barrera said evidence would not be made public
until the investigation was concluded, but he said the arrest was not
related to Muñoz's work as a journalist.

In a statement issued from prison on November 20, Muñoz denied the charges.

Esther Hernández, Telesur's director of institutional affairs, said in
an interview with CPJ that the arrest was in reprisal for the
correspondent's work. Muñoz primarily covered human rights issues, but
he had recently reported on the arrests of several congressmen accused
of links to paramilitary fighters. That issue is very sensitive because
the government has repeatedly denied any official connections to
paramilitaries. Muñoz has had a long career in the Colombian media as a
television producer and as an editor for Cartagena and Bogotá
newspapers.

The Colombian government has accused Telesur of fomenting terrorism
since it began broadcasting in 2005, Hernández told CPJ. In one of
Telesur's initial broadcasts, the network showed images of FARC leader
Manuel Marulanda, prompting criticism from President Álvaro Uribe
Vélez's administration. The network was created at the urging of
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frías to promote his perspective
throughout the hemisphere.

Muñoz was initially taken to DAS headquarters in Bogotá then moved to
the agency's offices in the northern city of Barranquilla, about 590
miles (950 kilometers) away, a Telesur source told CPJ. On November 27,
Muñoz was transferred to Cartagena, where he was being held when CPJ
conducted its annual census on December 1.

Argüelles Morán, the director of the independent news agency
Cooperativa Avileña de Periodistas Independientes in central Ciego de
Ávila province, was tried under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's
National Independence and Economy. In April 2003, he was sentenced to
20 years in prison.

Argüelles Morán was transferred several times from prison to prison,
according to CPJ research. In November 2005, he was sent to Canaleta
Prison in central Ciego de Ávila province, according to press reports.

During his imprisonment, the journalist developed emphysema, his wife,
Yolanda Vera Nerey, told CPJ. She said that a previously existing eye
problem had worsened to the point of near blindness. She added that the
journalist, who had been diagnosed with arthritis, suffered from
inflammation in both knees. In February 2005, Argüelles Morán was
hospitalized with inflammation of the liver.
Víctor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, Unión de Periodistas y Escritores de Cuba Independientes
IMPRISONED: March 18, 2003

Arroyo Carmona worked as a journalist for the independent news agency
Unión de Periodistas y Escritores de Cuba Independientes (UPECI) in the
western province of Pinar del Río. He was tried in April 2003 under
Article 91 of the Cuban penal code, which imposes lengthy prison
sentences or death for those who act against "the independence or the
territorial integrity of the state," and sentenced to 26 years in
prison.

The journalist was jailed at the Guantánamo Provincial Prison until
September 2005 when he staged a hunger strike to protest mistreatment.
In October, he was transferred to a hospital in nearby Holguín
province. Ten days later, he was moved to the Holguín Provincial
Prison, where he is currently jailed. Arroyo's prison conditions have
since improved, his wife, Elsa González Padrón, told CPJ. However, the
journalist was diagnosed with pulmonary emphysema and hypertension, and
was not receiving adequate medical attention, she said.

González Padrón said she had to travel a long distance to visit her
husband in prison, and she was allowed to visit him only once every
four months. Arroyo's wife said that she requested a transfer for her
husband but heard no response.
Miguel Galván Gutiérrez, Havana Press
IMPRISONED: March 18, 2003

Galván Gutiérrez, a journalist with the independent news agency Havana
Press, was tried under Article 91 of the penal code for acting against
"the independence or the territorial integrity of the state." In April
2003, he was sentenced to 26 years in prison, which he was serving at
the maximum security Agüica Prison in western Matanzas province.

In May 2004, news reports said that Galván Gutiérrez told his family
that he had been jailed in a cell with hardened criminals, whom he said
prison officials were inciting to attack him. News reports in 2005
indicated that Galván Gutiérrez was denied medical attention for a
urinary ailment. In October 2006, he told Laura Pollán, wife of fellow
imprisoned journalist Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, that he was in good
condition.

Julio César Gálvez Rodríguez, freelance
IMPRISONED: March 18, 2003

A Havana-based freelance reporter, Gálvez Rodríguez was tried and
convicted in April 2003 under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's
Independence and Economy, which punishes anyone who commits acts
"aiming at subverting the internal order of the nation and destroying
its political, economic, and social system." He was sentenced to 15
years in prison.

Gálvez Rodríguez was imprisoned at La Pendiente Prison in Villa Clara,
where his wife Beatriz del Carmen Pedroso said that he served a year
and a half of his 15-year sentence. In 2004, Gálvez Rodríguez was
transferred to Combinado del Este Prison in Havana.

The 62-year-old journalist was hospitalized and underwent gallbladder
surgery in 2004. Pedroso told CPJ that the surgery had eased her
husband's hypertension problems, but she added that he developed a
chronic respiratory problem for which he was not receiving proper care.
In October 2006, Gálvez Rodríguez was admitted to the Carlos J. Finjay
Military Hospital in Havana, according to news reports.
José Luis García Paneque, Libertad
IMPRISONED: March 18, 2003

García Paneque, director of the independent news agency Libertad in the
eastern province of Las Tunas, was sentenced to 24 years in prison in
April 2003. The journalist was convicted under Article 91 of the penal
code for acting "against the independence or the territorial integrity
of the state."

After a series of prison transfers, García Paneque was moved to Las
Mangas Prison in Granma province in November 2005. As a result of
serious intestinal ailments, he was initially housed in the infirmary.
He was diagnosed with internal bleeding and severe malnutrition, said
his wife Yamilé Llánez Labrada. In late September, the journalist, who
was still undernourished but in stable condition, was transferred into
a cell with 16 hardened prisoners, his wife told CPJ.

Ricardo González Alfonso, freelance
IMPRISONED: March 18, 2003

González Alfonso, freelance journalist and Havana correspondent for the
Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, was tried in
April 2003 under Cuba's Article 91, which imposes lengthy prison
sentences or death for those who act against "the independence or the
territorial integrity of the state." He was sentenced to 20 years in
prison.

González Alfonso was initially incarcerated in Camagüey's Kilo 8
Prison, where he was harassed and punished after staging a hunger
strike in December 2003, said his sister Graciela González-Degard. The
journalist's health began to deteriorate in July 2004; he was
transferred to a hospital in Camagüey after doctors diagnosed
hepatitis. In January 2005, he was admitted into the hospital at
Combinado del Este Prison in Havana for gallbladder surgery.

Jailed in 2006 at Combinado del Este, González Alfonso gradually
recovered from a series of infections caused by lack of medical
attention to his surgical wounds, González-Degard told CPJ. He was
imprisoned alongside hardened criminals and lost weight, his sister
said.
Léster Luis González Pentón, freelance
IMPRISONED: March 18, 2003

An independent journalist in the central Villa Clara province, González
Pentón was tried under Article 91 of the penal code, which imposes
lengthy prison sentences or death for those who act against "the
independence or the territorial integrity of the state." In April 2003,
he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

He was transferred a number of times before he was jailed at the Villa
Clara Provincial Prison, near his home. Mireya de la Caridad Pentón,
the journalist's mother, told CPJ that she visited her son every week.
She said that González Pentón shared a cell with four other prisoners
and was in relatively good health.

Alejandro González Raga, freelance
IMPRISONED: March 18, 2003

González Raga, an independent freelance journalist based in central
Camagüey province, was tried and convicted under Article 91 of the
penal code, which punishes those who act against "the independence or
the territorial integrity of the state." In April 2003, he was
sentenced to 14 years in prison and taken to Canaleta prison in central
Ciego de Ávila province.

González Raga was transferred to Kilo 7 Prison in central
Camagüey province in 2004. In early February 2006, he sent an open
letter to overseas news Web sites that pleaded for his freedom.
González Raga said in the letter that prison conditions were poor and
that his health was deteriorating, according to news reports.
Iván Hernández Carrillo, Patria
IMPRISONED: March 18, 2003

In April 2003, Hernández Carrillo, a journalist with the independent
news agency Patria in western Matanzas province, was tried under Law 88
for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy and
sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Originally placed at the Holguín Provincial Prison, Hernández Carrillo
waged hunger strikes in 2003 and 2004 to protest inadequate food and
medical care. He also complained after prison authorities threatened
him and other prisoners.

In 2004, the journalist was transferred to Cuba Sí Prison in eastern
Holguín province, hundreds of miles from his home. In January 2005, he
was moved to the Pre Prison in cental Villa Clara province, which was
closer to his home. He was allowed family visits every two months and
marital visits every four months, according to press reports.

Alfredo Pulido López, El Mayor
IMPRISONED: March 18, 2003

Pulido López, director of the Camagüey-based independent news agency El
Mayor, was tried under Article 91 of the Cuban penal code for "acting
against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state." In
April 2003, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Pulido López had been held in solitary confinement for a year at
Combinado del Este Prison in Havana, where he was first imprisoned, his
wife, Rebeca Rodríguez Souto, told CPJ. In August 2004, Pulido López
was transferred to Kilo 7 Prison in his native Camagüey, where he
remained held in a room with at least 100 hardened prisoners.

Rodríguez Souto said her husband was depressed and was suffering from a
series of ailments that seriously weakened him. Among other things,
Pulido López has been diagnosed with chronic bronchitis, chronic
gastritis, chronic tonsillitis, high blood pressure, severe headaches,
hypoglycemia, and loss of eyesight, according to his wife.
José Gabriel Ramón Castillo, Instituto Cultura y Democracia Press
IMPRISONED: March 18, 2003

In April 2003, Ramón Castillo, director of the independent news agency
Instituto Cultura y Democracia Press, was tried under Article 91 of the
penal code for acting against "the independence or the territorial
integrity of the state." He was given a 20-year prison sentence.

In February 2005, Ramón Castillo was transferred to Boniato Prison in
Santiago de Cuba from a military hospital in Havana, where he was
treated for various ailments. In 2006, the journalist shared a cell
with several hardened convicts, his wife, Blanca Rosa Echavarría, told
CPJ. He suffered from high blood pressure, chronic cirrhosis, and
severe anxiety, but was not receiving medical attention, Echavarría
said.

Echavarría and her daughter visited Ramón Castillo every 45 days. In
January 2006, prison authorities told Echavarría that she would no
longer be allowed to bring food. In July, they forbid medicine; in
September, they cut by more than half the number of personal hygiene
items that Ramón Castillo was allowed to receive.
Omar Rodríguez Saludes, Nueva Prensa Cubana
IMPRISONED: March 18, 2003

The director of the Havana-based independent news agency Nueva Prensa
Cubana, Rodríguez Saludes, was tried under Article 91 of the penal
code, which imposes lengthy prison sentences or death to anyone who
acts "against the independence or territorial integrity of the state."
In April 2003, he was sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Rodríguez Saludes was transferred a number of times before he was
placed in the Toledo Prison in Havana, where he shared a cell with
several men, his wife, Ileana Marrero Joa, told CPJ.
Mijaíl Bárzaga Lugo, Agencia Noticiosa Cubana
IMPRISONED: March 19, 2003

A reporter in Havana for the independent news agency Agencia Noticiosa
Cubana, Bárzaga Lugo was tried in April 2003 under Law 88 for the
Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy. He was
sentenced to 15 years in prison that month.

Bárzaga Lugo was jailed at the maximum security Agüica Prison in the
western Matanzas province. In October, he met with Laura Pollán, the
wife of fellow imprisoned journalist Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, and told
her that he was in good health.

Adolfo Fernández Saínz, Patria
IMPRISONED: March 19, 2003

Fernández Saínz, a Havana journalist for the independent news agency
Patria, was convicted under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's
National Independence and Economy in April 2003. He was sentenced to 15
years in prison.

Fernández Saínz has been transferred among several prisons and has
waged a number of hunger strikes to protest prison conditions, CPJ
research shows. He was being held in 2006 at Canaleta prison in central
Ciego de Ávila province, a seven-hour bus ride away from his family's
home in Havana, his wife, Julia Núñez Pacheco, told CPJ.

The journalist shared a dormitory-style cell with at least 23 convicts,
Núñez Pacheco told CPJ. A 2004 medical checkup revealed he had several
ailments, including emphysema, a hernia, high blood pressure, and a
small kidney cyst. In 2006, he was also diagnosed with osteoporosis.
His wife said she feared that Fernández Saínz was not receiving
appropriate medical treatment.
Alfredo Felipe Fuentes, freelance
IMPRISONED: March 19, 2003

Fuentes, an independent freelance journalist in western Havana
province, was tried in April 2003 under Article 91 of the Cuban penal
code for acting against "the independence or the territorial integrity
of the state." He was sentenced to 26 years in prison.

His wife, Loyda Valdés González, told CPJ that he was being jailed in
2006 at Kilo 5½ Prison in western Pinar del Río province, where he
sleeps in a dormitory-style cell with at least 80 hardened prisoners.
Valdés González, who visited her husband every two months, said that he
was diagnosed in September with chronic back problems, which were made
worse by the poor conditions of his imprisonment.

Hernández González, director of the independent news agency Colegio de
Periodistas Independientes de Camagüey, was tried in April 2003 under
Article 91 of the penal code, which imposes lengthy prison sentences
for those who act against "the independence or the territorial
integrity of the state." He was given a 25-year prison sentence.

Hernández González was jailed at the Boniato Prison in eastern Santiago
de Cuba province. In August 2003, he joined fellow imprisoned
dissidents in a one-week hunger strike. As punishment, he was
transferred to the Kilo 5½ Prison in Pinar del Río. In May 2004, the
journalist staged a second hunger strike to protest his imprisonment
with hardened criminals.

On September 12, 2006, Hernández González was transferred to the
maximum security Kilo 7 Prison in his native province of Camagüey. In
an interview with CPJ, his wife, Yaraí Reyes Marín, said that he was
housed in a dormitory with at least 100 other inmates, including
hardened criminals. Reyes Marín said prison authorities did not allow
her husband to handle his own medicine or keep personal belongings.
Hernández González suffered from severe intestinal problems, high blood
pressure, headaches, and dizzy spells, according to Reyes Marín.
Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, Agencia Prensa Libre Oriental
IMPRISONED: March 19, 2003

A journalist for the independent news agency Agencia de Prensa Libre
Oriental, Herrera Acosta was tried in April 2003 under Cuba's Law 88
for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy. He was
sentenced to 20 years in prison.

As punishment for having participated with fellow imprisoned
journalists in a hunger strike, Herrera Acosta was transferred in
August 2003 to the Kilo 8 Prison in central Camagüey province.

According to news reports, he continued to protest the poor conditions
of his incarceration throughout 2006 with hunger strikes,
self-inflicted wounds, and the use of anti-Castro slogans. The
journalist's reactions prompted violent reprimands from prison guards,
who beat him severely in March and August, confiscated his personal
belongings, took away telephone privileges, and threatened him with
solitary confinement.

Herrera Acosta suffered from various ailments since he was jailed. In
an interview with CPJ, his wife, Ileana Danger Hardy, said that his
health continued to worsen. He lost weight and was weak, but he
continued to protest for his rights, she said.

Maseda Gutiérrez, a journalist with the independent news agency Grupo
de Trabajo Decoro, received a 20-year prison term in April 2003 after
he was tried under Article 91 of the Penal Code for acting "against the
independence or the territorial integrity of the state," and Law 88 for
the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy.

According to news reports, Maseda Gutiérrez was transferred on December
19, 2005, to the maximum security Agüica Prison in the western Matanzas
province. The journalist shared a prison dormitory with 70 other
inmates, his wife, Laura Pollán, told CPJ. She said the dormitory is
poorly ventilated and has no bathroom.

Pollán said that her husband suffered from high blood pressure. On
April 14, Maseda Gutiérrez requested medical treatment but was instead
kept for two hours in a small, dark hallway with at least 12 other
handcuffed inmates, Pollán told CPJ. Pollán said the journalist filed a
complaint with the attorney general's office.

In 2004, Pollán appealed to Cuban authorities to grant her husband
amnesty, but government officials did not respond. In January 2005, she
was summoned by the State Security Department and told to keep quiet
about her husband's situation. Since then, a security check post has
been placed near her home, forcing most of her visitors to be searched
and sometimes threatened, Pollán said.
Pablo Pacheco Ávila, Cooperativa Avileña de Periodistas Independientes
IMPRISONED: March 19, 2003

Pacheco Ávila, a journalist with the independent news agency
Cooperativa Avileña de Periodistas Independientes, was tried in April
2003 under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence
and Economy. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The journalist began serving his jail sentence at Agüica Prison in
western Matanzas province, hundreds of miles from his home. In August
2004, he was moved to Morón Prison in Ciego de Ávila, his native
province.

In March 2005, his wife, Oleivys García Echemendía, told CPJ that
Pacheco Ávila suffered from high blood pressure, severe headaches,
acute gastritis, and inflammation in both knees, which made it
difficult for him to walk. In March 2006, the 36-year-old journalist
was transferred to Provincial Hospital Antonio Luaces Iraola after
doctors diagnosed kidney problems, García Echemendía told reporters.
Fabio Prieto Llorente, freelance
IMPRISONED: March 19, 2003

A freelance journalist in the western Isla de la Juventud special
municipality, Prieto Llorente was tried in April 2003 under Law 88 for
the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy. He was
sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In January 2006, Prieto Llorente was transferred from Kilo 8 Prison in
central Camagüey province to El Guayabo Prison in his native province.
His sister, Clara Lourdes Prieto Llorente, told CPJ that the journalist
was moved to solitary confinement beginning August 2, after expressing
support for political change in the wake of President Fidel Castro's
illness. She said other prisoners told her that the cell measures just
six square feet, has no windows, and is poorly ventilated.

The journalist suffered from depression, high blood pressure, back
pain, and emphysema, family members told CPJ. Since his transfer, his
sister said, his family feared that he was not receiving proper medical
attention.
Omar Ruiz Hernández, Grupo de Trabajo Decoro
IMPRISONED: March 19, 2003

Ruiz Hernández, a journalist for the independent news agency Grupo de
Trabajo Decoro in the central Villa Clara province, was sentenced to 18
years in prison after he was tried under Article 91 of the penal code,
which punishes with prison or death anyone who acts "against the
independence or the territorial integrity of the state."

Ruiz Hernández was transferred twice before being sent to Nieves
Morejón Prison in the central Sancti Spíritus province in November
2005. His wife, Bárbara Maritza Rojo Arias, told CPJ that her husband
shared a cell with more than 10 prisoners.

Ruiz Hernández was diagnosed with high blood pressure in 2004. His
wife, who visited him every two months, said she brought blood pressure
medication, but her husband was not being treated for dizzy spells and
an undiagnosed skin condition. On October 6, 2006, prison guards broke
a brace that the journalist needed to ease backaches.

A journalist for the independent news agency Grupo de Trabajo Decoro in
western Havana province, Ubaldo Izquierdo was tried in April 2003 under
Article 91 of the penal code for acting against "the independence or
the territorial integrity of the state," and handed a 16-year prison
sentence.

Ubaldo Izquierdo was being held at the Guanajay prison in Havana
province, said Laura Pollán, wife of fellow imprisoned journalist
Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez. Pollán told CPJ that Izquierdo's family
visited him every 45 days. His wife, Yamilka Morejón Morfa, was quoted
in news reports as saying that prison authorities harassed her and her
children during a visit in March.

According to news reports, Ubaldo Izquierdo was diagnosed in February
2006 with a gastrointestinal ailment. Doctors recommended a strict
diet, but prison authorities said they could not provide it, the
reports said. The journalist was hospitalized in April with abdominal
pain.

Betancourt Reina, a reporter for the independent news agency Nueva
Prensa Cubana, was arrested while covering the eviction of families
from homes in the central city of Camagüey, members of his family told
CPJ.

Local police told the journalist's family that he was arrested for
participating in a protest against the eviction, although several CPJ
sources said the claim was untrue. According to his wife, Mercedes
Boudet Silva, authorities told her lawyer that her husband would be
charged with aggravated public disorder, punishable by at least three
years in prison. No charges were publicly filed by November 30.

Betancourt Reina was held at the Cerámica Roja Prison in Camagüey,
where he shared a dormitory-style cell with 12 other prisoners. The
journalist told his wife during a visit in October that he was in good
health, but that he had been denied access to a priest and other
religious guidance.

Guillermo Espinosa Rodríguez, Agencia de Prensa Libre Oriental
IMPRISONED: October 26, 2006Espinosa Rodríguez, a reporter for the independent
agency Agencia de Prensa Libre Oriental (APLO), was detained by agents
of the Cuban State Security on October 26 and held for 12 days at
agency headquarters in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba. After a
45-minute trial on November 6, he was sentenced to two years of home
confinement on charges of "social dangerousness."

The vague, preemptory charge of "social dangerousness," punishable by
up to four years in prison, is used by Cuban authorities to silence
critics. Under Article 72 of the Cuban Penal Code, "any person shall be
deemed dangerous if he or she has shown proclivity to commit crimes
demonstrated by conduct that is in manifest contradiction with the
norms of socialist morality."

Espinosa Rodríguez is allowed to leave his home to go to work, but is
barred from attending public gatherings or leaving Santiago de Cuba,
his cousin, Diosmel Rodríguez, told CPJ. Espinosa Rodríguez is also
forbidden from practicing journalism and has been ordered to work at a
state-controlled office, APLO reported in the Miami-based news Web site
CubaNet.
If he does not comply with these terms, authorities told Espinosa
Rodríguez that he would be forced to serve his term in prison, said
Rodríguez.

Espinosa Rodríguez had been covering an outbreak of dengue fever in
Santiago de Cuba since July. Authorities suppressed news of the
outbreak, which was not reported in the official press. He had been
detained at least three times in three months and told that he would go
to jail for the long-term if he did not stop writing "lies," his cousin
told CPJ.

Bosange, a reporter for the private weekly Mambenga, was
arrested while reporting on clashes between the police and angry
demonstrators outside the Supreme Court in the capital, Kinshasa,
according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED) and
local journalists.

CPJ could not establish why Bosange was arrested. He was held
incommunicado and without charge at the Police General Directorate for
Special Services, known as "Kin Mazière," according to CPJ sources.

Haile, founder and manager of the private weekly Tsigenay,
was arrested for allegedly failing to complete his national service.
CPJ sources said he was released from prison in 2002 but was sent to
the army to perform extended military service. The sources believe that
Haile's continued deprivation of liberty is part of the government's
general crackdown on the press, which began in September 2001.

Ghebrehiwet Keleta,Tsigenay
IMPRISONED: July 2000

Keleta, a reporter for the private weekly Tsigenay, was
seized by security agents on his way to work sometime in July 2000 and
has not been seen since. CPJ sources believe that his continued
detention is connected to the government's overall crackdown on the
press.

Eritrean security forces arrested these 10 local journalists in the
days following September 18, 2001. The arrests came less than a week
after authorities abruptly closed all privately owned newspapers,
allegedly to safeguard national unity in the face of growing political
turmoil in this Horn of Africa nation.

Authorities have variously accused the journalists of avoiding the
military draft, threatening national security, and failing to observe
licensing requirements. But CPJ research indicates that the crackdown
was part of a government drive to crush political dissent in advance of
elections scheduled for December 2001, which were subsequently
cancelled. The fledgling private press covered a split in the ruling
party at that time and provided a forum for debate on President Isaias
Afewerki's autocratic rule. An open letter in Setit
published on September 9, 2001, for example, told the government that
"people can tolerate hunger and other problems for a long time, but
they can't tolerate the absence of good administration and justice."

In a 2006 CPJ interview, presidential spokesman Yemane Gebremeskel
denied that the journalists were imprisoned because of what they wrote,
saying only that they "were involved in acts against the national
interest of the state." He said "the substance of the case is clear to
everybody" but declined to detail any supporting evidence.

The journalists were initially held incommunicado at a police station
in the capital, where they began a hunger strike on March 31, 2002. In
a message smuggled from their jail, the journalists said they would
refuse food until they were released or charged and given due process.
Instead, they were transferred to secret locations, and no official
information has been available since. The government has refused to
divulge their whereabouts, their health, or even whether they are still
alive.

The government's monopoly on domestic media, the fear of reprisal among
prisoners' families, and recently tightened restrictions on the
movement of all foreigners have made it extremely difficult to verify
unofficial information. An unbylined report circulated on several Web
sites in August and deemed by CPJ sources to be generally credible,
claimed that journalists and opposition leaders arrested in the
crackdown were moved in 2003 to a secretly built desert prison,
accessible only on foot and two hours from the nearest populated place.
CPJ sources said they believed that the description of the place was
credible but some of the details were inaccurate.

The report does not attribute the source of its details, but CPJ
sources believe they may have come from at least one prison guard who
fled into exile. Its content is detailed and it contains a section on
the conditions of the prison and directives for the prison guards. The
report was first posted on Aigaforum,
a Web site considered close to the government of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is
a bitter rival of its neighboring country. The report was later posted
on Eritrean diaspora sites such as Awate and Asmarino, which said they believed some of its content to be correct.

CPJ sources could not verify the report's claim that at least three
journalists had died in custody. The report named the three as "Mr.
Yusuf," believed by CPJ sources to refer to Yusuf Mohamed Ali of Tsigenay; "Mr. Medhane Tewelde," believed to refer to Medhanie Haile of Keste Deben; and "Mr Said," believed to refer to Said Abdelkader of Admas.

In a letter hand delivered to the Eritrean embassy in Washington on
November 2, CPJ sought information about all of the jailed Eritrean
journalists. In particular, the letter addressed to Ambassador Girma
Asmerom sought to determine whether the three journalists cited in the
online report were alive. Eritrean officials did not respond.

In 2006, a group of exiled Eritrean journalists organized a group to
report on their colleagues' plight and to keep the international
spotlight from fading. The Association of Eritrean Journalists in Exile
launched a Web site at www.aeje.org.

Swedish diplomats have long sought to gain the release of Isaac, reporter and co-owner of Setit,
who has dual Eritrean and Swedish nationality. Isaac was released for a
medical checkup on November 19, 2005, and allowed to phone his family
and a friend in Sweden. Despite hopes that he would be freed, Isaac was
returned to jail two days later with no explanation, according to CPJ
sources.

The jailed journalists include Yohannes, publisher and founding editor of Setit,
who in the 1990s was considered a pioneer in Eritrea's fledgling
independent press. Yohannes was awarded a CPJ International Press
Freedom Award in 2002.

Selamyinghes Beyene,Meqaleh
IMPRISONED: Fall 2001

Beyene, a reporter for the independent weekly Meqaleh,
was arrested sometime in the fall of 2001. CPJ sources believed that
his detention was part of the government's general crackdown on the
press, which began in September 2001. In 2002 he was taken to do
military service, and was still performing his national service
requirement, according to CPJ sources.

During a July 2002 fact-finding mission to the capital, Asmara, CPJ
delegates confirmed that on or around February 15, Eritrean authorities
arrested Said, a journalist for the state-run Eritrean State Television
(ETV); Aljezeeri, a journalist for Eritrean State Radio; and Saadia
Ahmed, a journalist with the Arabic-language service of ETV. Ahmed was
released some time around early 2005, according to CPJ sources.

The reasons for their arrests were unclear, but CPJ sources said they
believed their detentions were related to the government's general
crackdown on the press, which began in September 2001.

Temesghen Abay, Eritrean State Radio (Tigrigna service)Yemane Haile, Eritrean News AgencyAmer Ibrahim, Eritrean State Television (Arabic service)
Ahmed Idris, Eritrean State Television (Arabic service)
Fethiya Khaled, Eritrean State Television (Arabic service)Paulos Kidane, Eritrean State Television and Radio (Amharic service)Daniel Mussie, Eritrean State Television and Radio (Oromo service)Senait Tesfay, Eritrean State Television (Tigrigna service)
IMPRISONED: November 2006

Security forces arrested at least nine state media journalists
beginning on or around November 12, and they continued to hold at least
eight as of December 1, according to several CPJ sources. The reason
for the crackdown was not immediately known, but sources said they
believed it was intended to intimidate state media workers after
several colleagues had fled the country.

Those sources said the government was known to detain and question
state media journalists, but the scale and duration of these detentions
was unusual. The journalists were initially taken to a police detention
center in central Asmara known as Agip, but CPJ sources could not
confirm whether they remained there or had been taken elsewhere.

Questioned by Agence France-Presse in the capital, Asmara, Information
Minister Ali Abdu claimed that the journalists had been freed. "It was
a routine matter and they have been released," AFP quoted him as saying
in a November 23 report. But CPJ sources said one week later that only
one had been freed and that the eight listed journalists remained in
custody.

Eritrean presidential spokesman Yemane Ghebremeskel told The Associated
Press on November 23 that he was unaware of the arrests. Eritrea's
embassy in the United States did not respond to CPJ's requests for
information.

These editors and publishers of Amharic-language newspapers were
arrested in a massive crackdown on the private press and opposition
that followed antigovernment protests in the capital, Addis Ababa, in
November 2005. They were charged in December 2005 along with dozens of
opposition leaders with conspiring to overthrow the government. The
charges could bring death sentences upon conviction. All of the
defendants were denied bail.

The joint trial of these journalists and opposition leaders began in
February, with most observers expecting it to last many months or even
years. Charges against the journalists included "outrage against the
constitution and the constitutional order," "impairment of the
defensive power of the state," and "attempted genocide." Nega faces
additional charges of "obstruction of the exercise of constitutional
powers," "inciting, organizing and leading armed rebellion against the
government," and "high treason." He was charged as a leader of the CUD
opposition party but has denied the accusation.

The journalists refused to put up a defense, saying the charges were
baseless and the proceedings politicized. A CPJ analysis of evidence
provided by the prosecution found that the journalists' work was often
antigovernment but did not constitute incitement to violence or
genocide. In April, CPJ issued a special report, "Poison, Politics, and the Press," outlining its findings.

In March, a CPJ delegation was allowed to visit Kality Prison near
Addis Ababa and meet with some of the jailed journalists. The
delegation spoke with Nega, Fassil, Agena, and Yenealem, all of whom
said they had been doing their jobs as journalists in criticizing the
government. Prisoners complained that their conditions were difficult.

When the trial went into recess in August and September, CPJ received
reports that Nega and Agena had been moved to the capital's Karchele
Prison, known for its harsh conditions. Several sources said these
prisoners were abused and that their visiting rights were severely
curtailed. The two were not told why they had been moved to another
prison, the sources said. After CPJ wrote a letter to Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi expressing concern about the prisoners, sources said
conditions improved somewhat.

Solomon Aregawi,HadarIMPRISONED: November or December 2005

Aregawi, owner of the defunct Amharic-language newspaper Hadar,
was arrested in a crackdown that followed the civil unrest in November
2005. He was jailed in Kality Prison in Addis Ababa. Aregawi, who
inherited Hadar from his father, was charged in March along
with 32 other defendants with conspiracy and "outrages against the
constitution," state prosecutor Shemelis Kemal confirmed to CPJ in
July. He pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. The charge against
Aregawi stemmed from articles published in Hadar about the disputed elections, Kemal said. The prosecutor could not say if there were further charges against Aregawi.

Aregawi and the 32 charged with him were being tried separately from
the dozens of opposition leaders, activists, and journalists who were
charged in December 2005 and put on trial for wide-ranging antistate
crimes and attempted "genocide." Kemal said the "nature of the crime"
was the same. Aregawi is accused of publishing "seditious" articles as
part of an alleged opposition plot to overthrow the government, the
prosecutor told CPJ, adding that "different people with different
capacities have been involved in the same grand design."

Abraham Gebrekidan,Politika
IMPRISONED: March 8, 2006

Gebrekidan, former editor of the defunct Amharic-language weekly Politika,
was sentenced to one year in prison for publishing "false news" and was
immediately jailed, according to several local sources. His conviction
was handed down in connection with a 2002 report attributed to the BBC,
which claimed that Ethiopia was training rebels in neighboring Eritrea.
Gebrekidan is one of several journalists jailed under Ethiopia's
repressive 1992 Press Law, often on years-old charges, after the
November 2005 crackdown.

Abraham Reta Alemu,Ruh
IMPRISONED: April 25, 2006

Reta, editor of the now-defunct Amharic-language weekly Ruh,
was sentenced to one year in jail on a criminal defamation charge
stemming from a 2002 story that accused government officials of
misusing World Bank aid, according to CPJ sources. After Ruh
stopped publishing, Reta freelanced for several Amharic newspapers, the
sources said. He was one of several journalists jailed under Ethiopia's
repressive 1992 Press Law, often on years-old charges, after the
November 2005 crackdown.
Tesehalene Mengesha,Mebruk
IMPRISONED: May 2006

Mengesha, an editor at the now-defunct Amharic-language weekly Mebruk,
was sentenced to 18 months in jail for publishing "false information."
He was placed in Kality Prison. The charge stemmed from a 1995 story
about an assassination attempt against Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak, according to CPJ research. Other details about the story and
the prosecution's case were not available. Like many Ethiopian editors,
Mengesha has had several criminal charges hanging over him for some
time. He was one of several journalists jailed under Ethiopia's
repressive 1992 Press Law, often on years-old charges, after the
November 2005 crackdown.

"Chief" Ebrimah B. Manneh,Daily ObserverIMPRISONED: July 7, 2006Security agents arrested "Chief" Ebrimah B. Manneh, a reporter for the pro-government Daily Observer,
at the newspaper's offices, according to sources who did not wish to be
identified for fear of retribution from the authorities. He was
arrested shortly after an altercation with the newspaper's managing
editor, Saja Taal, according to the same sources. Taal disputed the
description, saying Manneh was not at work that week.

Manneh's whereabouts, the reason for his detention, his legal status, and his health were all undisclosed.

According to a CPJ source and the Ghana-based Media Foundation for West
Africa, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) was responsible for
Manneh's arrest. In an interview with CPJ in July, NIA investigator
Lamine Saine denied that the agency was holding Manneh or that it had
imprisoned any journalists.

CPJ research, however, showed that at least five journalists were
imprisoned in NIA detention facilities during the year. Information
Minister Neneh Mcdoll-Gaye told CPJ in July that she had no information
about Manneh's whereabouts.

Sigarchi, a former editor of the daily newspaper Gilan-e-Emruz
and a Web blogger, was sentenced to three years in prison by an Iranian
appellate court on several offenses, including insulting Supreme Guide
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and propagandizing against the Islamic Republic
in his online blog.

Sigarchi had posted entries and given interviews to Western radio
stations that were critical of the government's harassment of fellow
bloggers. He was originally given a 14-year sentence by a revolutionary
court in Gilan in February 2005.

Hussein, a freelance Iraqi photographer who worked for The Associated
Press since 2004, was taken into custody by U.S. forces in the Iraqi
city of Ramadi for "imperative reasons of security" on April 12 and
held without charge or the disclosure of evidence of a crime.

The U.S. military alleged that Hussein had ties to insurgents. "He has
close relationships with persons known to be responsible for
kidnappings, smuggling, improvised explosive (IED) attacks, and other
attacks on coalition forces," according to a May 7 e-mail from Maj.
Gen. John Gardner to AP International Editor John Daniszewski.
According to the AP, one of the most specific allegations cited by U.S.
officials is that Hussein was involved in the kidnapping of two Arab
journalists in Ramadi by Iraqi insurgents. But an AP investigation
found that the two abducted journalists had never implicated Hussein in
the kidnapping--instead singling him out for praise for his assistance
when they were released. The military's only evidence to support its
claim appeared to be photographs of the released journalists found in
Hussein's camera, according to the AP.

AP President and CEO Thomas Curley called for Hussein to be charged or
freed, and CPJ Chairman Paul Steiger urged the Pentagon to provide due
process. The Pentagon's Bryan Whitman said Hussein was given a chance
to provide information in his defense at two military reviews, but an
AP lawyer said Hussein got notice of only one such hearing--and that
notice came after the hearing took place. Whitman gave no specifics
about the basis for Hussein's detention or whether the military would
charge him with an offense.

Hussein shared a 2005 Pulitzer Prize with other AP photographers for their work in Iraq.

Saeed, known as Fahala, was among several journalists employed by the
opposition Minivan news group who were targeted with legal action in
2006. Saeed, a reporter for the newspaper Minivan Daily,
was initially sentenced to a two-month term for refusing to take a
urine test after he was detained in October 2005. In April 2006, he was
sentenced to life imprisonment on charges that he intended to sell
drugs. His colleagues believe the charges were fabricated and that he
was targeted to silence coverage that was critical of the government.

In the trial against Saeed, his lawyer argued that police planted drugs
in the journalist's clothing after calling him to the station for
unspecified reasons. The lawyer said that police found no drugs during
an initial search of the journalist's pockets--while the lawyer was
present--only to discover 1.1 grams of heroin after isolating Saeed and
removing his clothes from view.

Minivan Daily, affiliated with the Maldivian Democracy Party,
was established in July 2005 as the first daily newspaper not aligned
with the government of Maldivian President Maumoon Gayoom, who has
ruled since 1978. Minivan means "independence" in Dhivehi.

In a meeting at CPJ's office in May, Maldivian Foreign Minister Ahmed
Shaheed suggested that Saeed could be held under house arrest pending
his appeal. Instead, he has stayed behind bars at high-security
Maafushi Prison, where he has been held intermittently in solitary
confinement.

Chiapas state police detained Ksheratto, columnist for the daily Cuarto Poder,
outside his home in the southern city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez for allegedly
violating a condition of bail by failing to make a weekly court
appearance, according to news reports and a CPJ source. Ksheratto was
taken to a maximum security prison in the town of Cintalapa, where he
was being held when CPJ conducted its annual census on December 1.
Ksheratto denied violating the condition.

The case stemmed from a 2003 criminal defamation complaint. While that
charge is pending, the columnist is required to appear in court every
week to sign documentation before a judge in Cintalapa, 65 miles (120
kilometers) from his home, the daily La Jornada reported. Ksheratto had been detained on February 4 and held for 18 days on a similar bail violation allegation.

The underlying case against Ksheratto stems from two August 2002
articles on alleged irregularities in a state-run agency responsible
for school construction. The columnist alleged that a public official
had used state money to build a house. Ksheratto was arrested on
January 9, 2003, after the official filed a complaint; he was released
on bail the next day.

Unlike many other places in Latin America, the state of Chiapas has
moved to stiffen criminal defamation laws. In February 2004, the
Chiapas state congress unanimously approved amendments to Articles 164,
169, and 173 of the state's penal code, drastically increasing
penalties for defamation. Articles 164 and 169 raised minimum penalties
for defamation and libel from two to three years and maximum penalties
from five to nine years.

Stomakhin, editor of the low-circulation monthly newspaper Radikalnaya Politika
(Radical Politics), was jailed on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and
making public appeals for extremist activity. In November, the Butyrsky
District Court in Moscow sentenced him to five years in prison. He and
his family said authorities were punishing him for his harsh criticism
of Kremlin policy in Chechnya.

In its written ruling, the court cited a number of passages. In one,
the court quoted Stomakhin as writing: "Let tens of new Chechen snipers
take their positions in the mountain ridges and the city ruins and let
hundreds, thousands of aggressors fall under righteous bullets! No
mercy! Death to the Russian occupiers!" In another article cited by the
court, Stomakhin said a Moscow subway bombing was "justified, natural
and legal. ... The Chechens have the full moral right to bomb
everything they want in Russia."

Stomakhin, who had pleaded not guilty, said he was "tried for his views
and not for any real crime. ... In the articles, I expressed my
opinion, with which people were free to agree or disagree," the news
agency RIA-Novosti reported. He said an opinion was not a "call to
action."

The charges stemmed from a December 2003 complaint filed by two Communist Party members who said Radikalnaya Politika
was run by "Chechen bandits," the human rights news agency Prima
reported. Police raided Stomakhin's apartment in April 2004,
confiscating his computer, copies of Radikalnaya Politika,
computer disks, books, leaflets, and other editorial material.
Stomakhin fled for a time to Ukraine where he unsuccessfully sought
political asylum.

He was arrested in March 2006, a day after he fell from the window of
his fourth-floor Moscow apartment while trying to elude police,
according to local press reports. Stomakhin suffered a broken ankle and
back injuries.

Vladimir Korolyov,Permsky ObozrevatelIMPRISONED: September 11, 2006

Police in the western city of Perm arrested Korolyov, a photographer for the independent weekly Permsky Obozrevatel,
on a charge of disclosing unspecified state secrets under Article 283
of Russia's criminal code, his lawyer and colleagues told CPJ. Korolyov
had just been released from the hospital after undergoing treatment for
a heart condition, the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty reported.

Authorities subjected journalists at Permsky Obozrevatel,
the city's only independent newspaper, to months of legal harassment,
according to CPJ research. The weekly features critical coverage of the
local administration and analytical articles on corruption,
privatization, and the redistribution of municipal property.

Police raided the paper twice in 2006, in May and again in August,
confiscating servers, computers, disks, flash cards, staff records, and
photographs. Investigators also searched Korolyov's home, seizing video
and audiotapes, his wife's architectural drawings, and other personal
belongings.

In August, authorities formally opened criminal investigations into all
eight of the newspaper's staffers on charges of "insult," "violating
the right to private life," and "disclosing state secrets."

Korolyov was being held in a Perm pretrial detention center. Karen
Nersisian, a Moscow lawyer helping to defend Korolyov, said his client
had been pressured to make statements against the newspaper and its
founder, Igor Grinberg.

Maunasámi, a freelance reporter who wrote about the conflict between
the Sri Lankan government and the separatist rebel group Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the Sinhala-language weekly Mawbima,
was detained at her residence at a boarding house in Wellawatta, south
of the capital Colombo, according to the Colombo-based media advocacy
group Free Media Movement. Police detained Maunasámi, who is an ethnic
Tamil, along with another Tamil woman living at the boarding house and
transferred them to the Terrorist Investigation Division, police told
FMM.

Sri Lankan authorities have not given a reason for the journalist's
detention. She was held under anti-terrorist legislation that allows
prolonged detention without charge or trial. Local Sinhala-language
newspaper reports linked her arrest to the confiscation of ammunition,
but police said that no ammunition was recovered by any police station,
according to FMM.

Mawbima has distinguished itself among Sinhala-language
newspapers for an editorial line that is critical of both Sri Lankan
military and LTTE actions, said FMM spokesperson Sunanda Deshapriya.
Maunasámi's colleagues at Mawbima expressed concern about her detention and believe she may have been targeted

Abbou, a human rights lawyer, was arrested by Tunisian secret police on
March 1, 2005, and handed a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence the
next month. The verdict was based on an Internet article that "defamed
the judicial process" and was "likely to disturb public order," but the
government provided no details as to when the material appeared or what
it said.

Abbou wrote for a banned Tunisian news Web site, Tunisnews,
comparing torture in Tunisia's prisons with that of Iraq's infamous Abu
Ghraib. An appeals court upheld the verdict on June 10, 2005.

Horuz, editor of the leftist publications Ozgur Gelecek and Isci Koylu,
was arrested and later charged with "membership in an illegal
organization," a crime under Article 168/2 of the penal code.
Prosecutors based the case against Horuz on interviews he had allegedly
conducted with leftist guerrillas, which Ozgur Gelecek published in 2000 and 2001.

The state also based its case on the testimony of an alleged former
militant who claimed that the journalist belonged to the outlawed
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party. Horuz was convicted on June 18, 2002,
and sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison.

back to top
UNITED STATES: 1
Joshua Wolf, freelance
IMPRISONED: September 22, 2006

Wolf, a freelance blogger and videographer, was jailed in San Francisco
for refusing to turn over to a federal grand jury a videotape of a 2005
protest.

The case pending in a federal appellate court hinges on whether Wolf
has a First Amendment or common law right not to turn over his
videotape. On August 1, a federal judge ordered him to jail for
refusing to turn over the tape. He was incarcerated for 30 days before
a two-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered him free
on bail while his appeal was pending. On September 11, a three-judge
panel for the same appellate court revoked Wolf's bail at the
prosecution's request. He returned to jail on September 22 even as his
appeal was pending.

Wolf taped clashes between demonstrators and San Francisco police
during a June 2005 protest by anarchists against a Group of Eight
economic conference. Wolf sold footage of the protest to San Francisco
television stations and posted it on his Web site. Investigators are
seeking Wolf's testimony and portions of his videotape that were not
broadcast. A federal grand jury is investigating possible criminal
activity, including an alleged attempt by protestors to burn a police
vehicle.

Al-Haj, a Sudanese national and assistant cameraman for Al-Jazeera, was
detained by Pakistani forces after he and an Al-Jazeera reporter
attempted to re-enter southern Afghanistan at the Chaman border
crossing in Pakistan. About a month later he was handed over to U.S.
forces and eventually sent to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, in June 2002.

According to recently declassified military documents, the U.S.
military alleged that he worked as a financial courier for Chechen
rebels and that he assisted al-Qaeda and extremist figures. But al-Haj
was not convicted or charged with a crime, and he was being held on the
basis of secret evidence.

Al-Haj's London-based lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, maintained that his
client's continued detention is political. He said that the main focus
of U.S. interrogators has not been al-Haj's alleged terrorist
activities but obtaining intelligence on Al-Jazeera and its staff.
Virtually all of the roughly 130 interrogations al-Haj was subjected to
focused on Al-Jazeera, Stafford Smith said. At one point, U.S. military
interrogators allegedly told al-Haj that he would be released if he
agreed to inform U.S. intelligence authorities about the satellite news
network's activities, Stafford Smith said. Al-Haj refused.

CPJ outlined the al-Haj case in an October special report titled "The Enemy?" The report urged the U.S. government to provide fair and transparent due process.

A court in the capital, Tashkent, sentenced Bekjanov, editor of the opposition newspaper Erk,
to 14 years in prison and Ruzimuradov, an employee of the paper, to 15
years. They were convicted of publishing and distributing a banned
newspaper that criticized President Islam Karimov, participating in a
banned political protest, and attempting to overthrow the regime.

Both men were tortured during their pretrial detention in Tashkent City
Prison, which left them with serious injuries, Tashkent-based human
right activists told CPJ. On November 15, 1999, Bekjanov was
transferred to a "strict regime" Penal Colony 64/46 in the city of
Navoi. Ruzimuradov was transferred to "strict regime" Penal Colony
64/33 in the village of Shakhali near the southern city of Karshi.

The wives and children of both men fled to the United States in 1999
after their arrests, Erk Party Secretary-General Aranazar Arifov told
CPJ.

In 2003, reporters with the London-based Institute for War and Peace
Reporting (IWPR) and The Associated Press interviewed Bekjanov in the
Tashkent Prison Hospital while he was being treated for tuberculosis
contracted in prison. In the interview, Bekjanov described torture and
beatings that resulted in a broken leg and hearing loss in his right
ear, IWPR reported.

In 2006, Bekjanov was jailed in the southwestern city of Kasan, according to the independent news Web site Uznews.
His wife, Nina Bekjanova, who was allowed to visit him in October 2006,
said he told her that he was still subjected to beatings and torture
that, among other things, caused him to lose most of his teeth, Uznews reported.

Exiled journalists, human rights workers, and other CPJ sources said
they did not know Ruzimuradov's whereabouts, his conditions, or his
health in 2006.

Gayrat Mehliboyev, freelance
IMPRISONED: July 24, 2002

Police arrested Mehliboyev at a bazaar in Tashkent for allegedly
participating in a rally protesting the imprisonment of members of the
banned Islamist opposition party Hizb ut-Tahrir. After his arrest,
police searched his bed in a local hostel and claimed they found banned
religious literature that prosecutors later characterized as extremist
in nature, according to international press sreports.

Mehliboyev was held in pretrial detention for more than six months
before his trial began on February 5, 2003. Prosecutors presented as
evidence of Mehliboyev's alleged religious extremism a political
commentary he had written for the April 11, 2001, edition of Hurriyat.
The article questioned whether Western democracy should be a model for
Uzbekistan and said that religion was the true path to achieving social
justice. Prosecutors claimed that the article contained ideas from Hizb
ut-Tahrir.

A Tashkent-based representative of Human Rights Watch monitored the
trial and told CPJ that several times during the proceedings Mehliboyev
said he was beaten in custody, but the court ignored his comments.
Mehliboyev's brother, Shavkat, said the defendant was forced to confess
to having connections to Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The Shaikhantaur Regional Court sentenced Mehliboyev to seven years in
prison on February 18, 2003, after convicting him of anticonstitutional
activities, participating in extremist religious organizations, and
inciting religious hatred, according to local and international press
reports. The sentence was later reduced on appeal to six and a half
years in prison.

Authorities in the northeastern Namangan region charged Namazov, editor of the state newspaper Pop Tongi and correspondent for the state newspaper Kishlok Khayoti,
with embezzlement after he wrote a series of articles about alleged
abuses in local tax inspections and collective-farm management.

Shortly after his trial began on August 4, 2004, Namazov complained
that the judge was biased and did not allow him to defend himself. On
August 11, 2004, before the verdict was reached, authorities took him
into custody. Five days later, the Turakurgan District Criminal Court
convicted Namazov and sentenced him to five and a half years in prison.

Human rights activist Mutabar Tadjibaeva, who monitored the 2004 trial,
told CPJ that local authorities harassed the journalist's family during
the trial, cutting his home telephone line and firing his daughter from
her job as a school doctor.

Namazov was serving his sentence at a prison in eastern Namangan, the Tashkent-based Ozod Ovoz press freedom group reported.

Dzhamshid Karimov, freelance
IMPRISONED: September 12, 2006

Karimov, nephew of President Islam Karimov, was involuntarily placed in
a psychiatric hospital in Samarkand on September 12. Karimov had worked
for the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting until 2005,
when the news agency was forced out of the country.

Karimov later contributed to a number of independent newspapers and
online publications, including the Almaty-based news Web site Liter, CPJ sources said. According to the news Web site Uznews, Karimov criticized both local and federal authorities in his coverage of social and economic problems.

The Jizzakh City Court ordered Karimov's psychiatric placement,
according to international press reports. Government officials did not
release any information about the court proceedings, and they did not
permit independent experts to examine Karimov, according to press
reports.

Two high-profile journalists imprisoned in Vietnam were released in
2006 amid sustained international pressure; only Binh remained in jail.
A former journalist who worked for almost 10 years at the official
publication Tap Chi Cong San (Journal of Communism), Binh was arrested after security officials searched his home in Hanoi.

Binh was held for more than 15 months in Hoa Lo Prison before his trial
on espionage charges on December 31, 2003. Hanoi People's Court
sentenced him to seven years in prison, followed by three years of
house arrest upon release. His wife was the only family member allowed
in the courtroom; foreign diplomats and journalists were barred from
his trial.

According to state media reports, Binh was sentenced because he had
"written and exchanged, with various opportunist elements in the
country, information and materials that distorted the party and state
policies." He was also accused of communicating with "reactionary"
organizations abroad.

In an open letter to Vietnamese leaders in September 2006, Binh's wife
wrote that the charges against him were based on his petitions to form
an opposition party and his essay, "Vietnam and the Road to
Resurrection," which "expressed my husband's vision of a prosperous,
democratic Vietnam with true human rights on par with other neighboring
nations," according to a translation received by CPJ.

CPJ sources believe that his arrest was also linked to his August 2002
essay, "Some Thoughts on the China-Vietnam Border Agreement." His
detention came during a government crackdown on critics of land and sea
border agreements signed by China and Vietnam as part of a
rapprochement following the 1979 conflict between the two countries.
Several writers criticized the government for agreeing to border
concessions without consulting the Vietnamese people.

Binh's wife said that he was hospitalized several times for food
poisoning since his imprisonment. When she visited him in early
September 2006, his health appeared to have suffered a decline, and he
was on medication for a chronic stomach ailment. Binh also suffers from
high blood pressure, she said.